Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own
by kissbangx3
Summary: Cowritten with CharliesHoodie. When Jack and Sawyer are captured, Kate and Charlie follow. How will the survivors cope without leaders? Will Charlie choose a forbidden love? Will Kate choose the conman or the doctor? And who really are the Others?
1. Hero Takes a Fall

**Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own**

-Hero Takes a Fall-

_by CharliesHoodie _

_A/N: Hey, this is CharliesHoodie. This story is a roundrobin between kissbangx3 and I. Basically, it works this way: I write one chapter, she writes the next. Incase you didn't know what a RR was. Obviously, this is on her penname, so if you want to read any of my other stuff, check out my profile. Be sure to read kissbandx3's story Fate. It's wonderful! Anyway, onto the story._

_Note: The time setting for this story is before Ana and Libby are shot. Michael is still in the jungle, but someone set Henry free—no one knows who. It is after Ana "used" Sawyer to get the gun._

**-The Beach-**

"Hurley, I've got it," Libby protested, pushing Hurley's hands off the metal pole that held her tent up. A storm had come through the beach the night before, knocking over shelters and blowing supplies everywhere. It was the morning after, and everyone was scattered around the beach, raising shelters and returning things that had been blown away.

"Just let me help," Hurley argued back, grabbing the pole from her and setting it up straight. "It's taller than you are."

Libby gave him a glare, but she was smiling, too. Hurley grinned at her.

"Get on the other side and stretch the tarp over the frame, and I'll stay on the other side."

The two worked together to fix Libby's shelter. Once it was completed, Libby sat on the sand next to it and patted the area next to her, looking up at Hurley expectantly.

Hurley sat down next to her carefully, exhaling loudly and blushing as he did so. Libby was so _thin. _He felt embarrassed when he was next to her. Libby didn't seem to mind his weight, but that was all he thought about when they were together.

"Is your shelter even up yet?" Libby asked, tilting her head toward him and smiling slightly.

Hurley shook his head. "No. It's still a pile of rubble."

"Well, you should have fixed it before you fixed mine!" She laughed, taking his hand in hers.

Hurley suddenly became aware of his sweating palms, and his blush deepened.

Libby still hadn't told him much about her. He knew he had seen her somewhere, though. But he couldn't place it. But from wherever it was that he saw her – he remembered she looked different. Darker hair, maybe. He wanted to ask her if she had ever been a brunette, but he was afraid he would sound ridiculous. Anyway, he had decided long ago that he would wait until he new her better to ask her anything more about her personal life.

"What do you think is up with them?" Libby asked, breaking Hurley's train of thought. His eyes followed where Libby was looking, and he saw Charlie and Claire a few yards away by Claire's destroyed tent. Charlie was scrambling around, trying to help her pick things up and Claire was holding Aaron against her chest, yelling at him.

Hurley sighed and shrugged. "Dude, they were crazy about each other until the whole drug thing. Now Claire doesn't want anything to do with him."

"Well, I don't blame her," Libby said. "She has a baby."

Hurley shrugged. He knew Libby and Claire were right, but Charlie was still one of his best friends on the island, and he didn't want to say or do anything to damage that relationship and trust, especially when everyone else seemed to be letting Charlie down.

**-Claire's Tent-**

"Charlie, I don't need your help," Claire told him icily, pacing around with Aaron pressed against her chest, shaking him lightly to settle him down as he cried.

Charlie was getting a headache – the withdraw, the crying baby, Claire's yelling. He could hardly stand it. And then the state her tent was in…he wouldn't even be able to fix it _without_ all the distractions.

He stood up straight, smoothing back his sweaty hair with his hand and sighing. His eyes were fixed on Claire, and he was dying to tell her (again) that he was clean and baptizing-baby-dream free, but it wasn't going to work anymore. She was convinced. She was stubborn.

They weren't going to work anymore.

"Charlie," Claire whispered, looking at him pleadingly. "Go. Please."

Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but Claire cut him off immediately.

"Look, I don't want any kind of relationship with you right now. Later, we can maybe be friends. But not for a long time. Right now…just…no." She paused, her soft eyes glistening in the sun. "You scare me, Charlie."

Charlie bit his lip and felt blood leak out of it, filling his mouth with a bitter, metallic taste. He nodded slightly and quickly walked down the beach to his tent.

**-Kate's Tent-**

Kate was working on her tent independently, politely saying: "I got it" to anyone who offered to help. She was like that. She had always been like that. She knew she had serious trust issues, even with something as simple as helping with a tent. But over the years, she learned that the only person she could truly trust was herself, and sometimes even that got difficult and complicated.

After all, she trusted herself when she kissed Jack. She trusted herself when she did a lot of things, and there wasn't always a positive outcome.

"Hey, Kate," a voice said from behind her.

She turned around and saw Charlie, a forced half smile on his face. She smiled back at him brightly and turned back to her tent.

"You need something?" she asked without looking back at him.

"No, just saying hi," he answered with a shrug.

Kate stopped what she was doing and turned back to face him again, concerned.

"What is it, Charlie?"

He sat down, and she sat with him.

"It's Claire," he told her. "I think that we're over for good."

Kate looked at him sadly and sighed. "Maybe you guys just weren't right together. Sometimes it's just not meant to be. Trust me, Charlie, I know."

"Yeah, you're right. But I just felt good around her, you know? It's going to be hard getting used to."

Kate nodded. "Yeah, it will be."

Charlie felt himself turning red with embarrassment. A lot of the time, he just didn't feel worthy of anyone's company. Especially after what he had done to Claire and Aaron. After that, he felt like every time he said something, every time he felt something, people were judging him. And the sad truth was, he was probably right.

He had managed to rekindle quite a lot of relationships with people, though. Jack, Kate, Sawyer – to a point (hardly anyone was ever ok with Sawyer) Eko, Sayid, Hurley, Rose…and a few other people, as well.

Eko had been a huge help with the situation – telling people who asked what had really happened and how Charlie misunderstood some of the things Eko had told him. A couple people had actually turned on Eko, but Eko took it extremely well.

"Well…" a voice said, approaching Kate and Charlie.

Kate looked up, feeling a smile slip on her face. It was Sawyer.

"The rebel and the has-been. Never saw that one coming," Sawyer smirked, looking down at Kate and Charlie.

Kate rolled her eyes, a huge grin on her face. Charlie muttered something under his breath.

"Shut up, Sawyer," Kate said, tucking a section of curly hair behind her ear and looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Well, Freckles, your tent doesn't look like it was damaged much," Sawyer joked, nodding at the pile of tarp and poles.

Kate glared at him. "You want to fix it?" she challenged with a playful smile.

Just then, Jack walked up to the group – his face stern and hard as usual. Kate's smile vanished and her eyes moved quickly down to stare at her feet. As much as she tried not to let her feelings for Jack get in the way of her life on the island, sometimes it was impossible.

They were very mixed feelings, actually. For a long time, she had basically thrown herself in front of him. And he did nothing. When she literally threw herself at him, he still did nothing. She had basically come to the conclusion that he would always be the way he was, and there was nothing she could do about it. Sawyer, on the other hand, was so much easier to get along with than Jack. Most of the time.

"What do you want, Doc?" Sawyer asked, turning to face Jack and giving him an intimidating smile.

"Nothing, Sawyer. I'm going to the hatch to make sure Ana's there to push the button."

"Really? Is there a reason you have to come so close to Freckles' tent?" Sawyer asked, a grin spread across his face.

Jack ignored Sawyer's comment completely, meeting Kate's eyes as he passed her and into the woods.

"That wasn't a denial, now was it, Freckles?" Sawyer teased, his shiny blue eyes staring at her.

Kate furrowed her brows, her arms crossed over her chest. She was still staring at the ground.

**-The Path to the Hatch-**

Jack was trying to keep his distance from Kate.

And it really didn't help when Sawyer cracked jokes about them. Jack knew how Sawyer felt about Kate. It was obvious – anyone could tell. But he was beyond stooping down to Sawyer's level and getting him back. After all, they weren't kids anymore.

The truth was, Jack didn't feel anything for Kate. Yes, every now and then, but it was never anything long term. He cared about her a lot, but he cared about everyone on the island. He cared about keeping them safe and satisfied with what little they had. He couldn't distract himself from the duty assigned to him. If he were ever to consider having a romantic relationship on the island, it would have to be with someone who could stand beside him all the time. Not someone who stood beside him for a while and ran away when something needed to be done. That was how Kate was.

Too much depended on him – he never got a break from it. He couldn't stop in the middle of what he did on the island to counsel Kate on their relationship issues. And if he did, the counseling session wouldn't go well, either. As strange as it was, it seemed most of his arguments with her never ended in agreement.

The sound of a rustle in the bushes startled Jack and he stopped. He saw a flash of dirty blonde hair. An annoyed laugh escaped his mouth.

"Sawyer, come out."

"Aw, c'mon, Doc," Sawyer said, grinning as he stepped out of the bushes. "You know I couldn't pass up on some juicy gossip between you and Ana."

"There's no 'juicy gossip' between me and Ana," Jack said with a slight laugh, not looking at Sawyer.

"Well, you got caught in a net with Freckles, so who knows what could happen," Sawyer countered, his eyes flickering.

Jack frowned and started to say something, but there was another rustle.

"Did anyone follow you, Sawyer?" Jack demanded.

Sawyer threw his hands up in defense. "Jeez, Doc. People are allowed to walk here. You don't own this island, you know."

Jack silenced him by putting one hand up, stepping forward, towards the rustle.

In less than a few seconds, he felt his neck spasm with pain. He brought his hand up, and touched a dart.

Plucking it out, he fell to the ground; shaking and shuddering until all went black.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. Kiss will be writing the next chapter, and I'm positive it'll be great._

_-CharliesHoodie_


	2. Gone Away

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Gone Away-

_by Kissbangx3_

_A/N: It's Kiss this time. I hope you liked the last chapter (I did!), and I hope you like this one! I don't have much to say… read CharliesHoodie's things, too. Especially all the sweet one-shots. _

**-The Hatch-**

Ana Lucia was bored, and she was definitely tired of sitting around, staring at the computer and waiting for the numbers to tick down. She had typed them in a few minutes before, and she had expected Jack to be here by now.

She glanced at the timer. It was only at 1:10, so she knew she had plenty of time. She got up, turned the record player off, and left through the back door. She figured she'd see him on her way back to the beach, but she didn't. Once she got to the beach, she wondered who to ask. People had started avoiding her since Shannon, and besides Jack, she didn't talk to many of them. There was Sawyer, but she doubted he really wanted to talk to her after what had happened with them.

Finally she decided on approaching Kate. Ana Lucia had never liked Kate much—mostly because of the obvious reason: Jack was obviously in love with Kate, and Jack was the only guy Ana was remotely interested in. She found Sawyer good-looking, of course, but there was nothing else there. She knew it was a petty high school-type jealousy, but she'd never been able to stop thinking about it.

"Kate," she greeted grimly, walking into Kate's tent just as Charlie left. Charlie was avoiding Ana's eyes. That was the usual method of greeting she got from these people. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," Kate said, turning to face her. If Ana wasn't mistaken, she sensed the same dislike coming from Kate.

"Have you seen Jack?" Ana managed. She glanced around the tent, pretending to be interested in her surroundings so she wouldn't have to look at Kate.

"Yeah, about ten minutes ago," Kate said, nodding. "He was on his way to talk to you. Didn't he?"

Ana shook her head. "No. He wasn't in the hatch, or on the trail leading there. Maybe—"

But Kate had already jumped up. She jogged across the whole beach. Ana stayed at the tent, watching in awe as she heard Kate's faint shouts: "Has anyone seen Jack?" After looking through all the tents, Kate returned to Ana, this time with a pretty big crowd behind her.

"He's not here," Kate breathed.

And everyone began to panic.

* * *

"Kate, I'm sure he's here," Ana Lucia shouted above the loud arguments and debates over where Jack was. "He's probably in the jungle somewhere. Maybe he had to go to the bathroom, or something—who knows?"

Kate shook her head. "Do you really believe that?"

Ana rolled her dark eyes. She hated it when people tried to act wise around her. "Yeah, I do. Now, I'm going to go retrace the path to the beach. If he's not there, maybe I can pick up some tracks."

"Maybe I should come," Kate said quickly. She was confused—she kept telling herself nothing could happen between her and Jack, and yet she was so worried about him. She couldn't figure herself out. "And Locke. He's great at tracking people."

Ana crossed her arms and looked straight into Kate's eyes, looking deadly serious. "I'm going alone," she said simply.

Kate didn't look intimidated, but she did look like she was giving up. "Okay," she said after a second. "Fine. But if you find anything, don't keep looking. Take it and bring it back, okay? And if you find Jack, bring him back. I have a feeling a pretty bad trick's being played on us."

"A trick," Ana repeated with a snort. "You're really paranoid, you know that?"

Kate was about to answer, but Ana had already left.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Charlie asked, approaching Kate again. Claire was still avoiding him, and every time he wanted to talk to her, he remembered her words: _You scare me, Charlie. _The words that stung him, that he would never forget. At least he didn't scare Kate. With Sawyer and Jack, Charlie had long since given up on trying to impress her. He didn't have any real feelings for her, but he felt at ease around her, so he tried to stay on good terms with her so they could be friends. He knew she would never be scared of him when _she _was the ex-convict.

Kate shrugged. "Pretty much what you heard. Jack told me he was leaving to find Ana, and Ana told me he never showed up. And he's not on the beach."

Charlie didn't look too worried. "I'm sure he'll show up. He's probably just doing something heroic."

Kate couldn't help but laugh—he was probably right. That was another reason why Kate doubted her possible future relationship with Jack: he was always the hero. It was his calling and his unpaid job on the island, and above all else, he stuck to it. "Probably," she admitted. But her face grew serious again. "But what if he's not?"

"What other explanation is there?" Charlie asked, shrugging.

"Do you believe all the stuff they're saying about the Others?" Kate asked him. "Sayid, I mean, and Rousseau."

"Of course," Charlie said with another shrug. "There's the guy in the hatch, and that story you told me about what happened when you followed Jack and them and then they held a gun to your head." He sounded amused. "I don't see why you'd make that up."

"By the way," Kate said with a grin, "I don't think I was supposed to tell you that. Anyway, I was thinking… what if they took him?"

"Jack?" Charlie asked. "Why would they? I thought they just liked little kids." He didn't say it in a joking way, but he snickered once he said it.

"Well, if they were to take any of us, don't you think it would be Jack?" Kate continued. "He's pretty much our leader."

Charlie considered this and realized how right she was. "D'you really think so?" he asked, looking up at her again.

Before she could reply, she was interrupted as Ana Lucia burst into her tent.

"What is it?" Kate asked, once again springing to her feet.

Ana held up something very familiar. "This is his, isn't it?" she asked, obviously out of breath. She was sweating a lot from running, but she didn't seem to notice. "I've seen him wearing it before."

Kate stared at it for a second. Dangling from Ana's hand was the necklace Jack always wore, and hanging from the end of it was the key to the marshal's briefcase. "Yeah," Kate finally said. "It's his."

**-Sawyer's Tent-**

"Sawyer, I need a gun," Kate said as she entered his tent. She stopped short when she realized he wasn't there. Before she even thought of taking any, she left. She was just as frantic as the first time, maybe worse, at the thought of Sawyer being gone, too. "Sawyer!" she shouted, sprinting across the beach. She glanced at every tent as she went, but she didn't see him anywhere. When she got back to her own tent, she was sweating just as hard as Ana Lucia.

"They took Sawyer, too," she said, wiping her forehead.

"We'd need to check the trail and the hatch first," Ana argued. "I doubt they'd take him, too."

Kate knew he wasn't in the hatch. She knew he'd been taken, too. But she nodded. "Okay. You check there, and I'll double-check the beach." Once Ana left, Kate ran back to Sawyer's tent and snagged a gun—she knew where they were. Then she went back to her tent, grabbed a pen and paper, and began writing.

_Ana,_

_When you get back, I'll be somewhere in the jungle. I would've waited, but I already knew they took Sawyer. Besides that, if I waited, you'd come with me. And you can't. You have to stay here and take care of these people. I'm going alone. Don't send anyone after me. It'll just be more lives at stake._

_Be a good leader. I'll be a good searcher. Let's not blend it._

_Kate_

She knew it wasn't exactly nice, but she didn't know how else to put it. Just as she was folding up the letter, Charlie came into her room.

"Hey, Charlie," Kate sighed. She was used to it by now.

"What's in the letter?" he asked nosily.

Kate was starting to get a little annoyed. "Nothing," she said. "Look, I'm going somewhere. I'll be back soon. Tell everyone I'm fine, okay?"

"You're leaving?" Charlie asked. "You're going to look for them, aren't you?"

Kate didn't say anything.

"Let me see the letter," Charlie urged. "Please."

Kate shrugged and handed him the letter. He read it without saying a word, but then he snatched the pen.

"What're you doing?" Kate demanded.

"Comma splice," he lied. "I'm just editing."

Kate rolled his eyes as she watched him scribble. "Comma splice?" she asked. "Doesn't that just take a little line, crossing out the comma?"

"Actually, I was writing an addition," he told her, handing it back to her.

She glanced down at it. Below her signature, he'd written a postscript.

_PS: Charlie's coming, too._

"No," she said immediately, "you're not."

"What is _with _you people?" Charlie asked, shaking his head, but he was just teasing her. "Last I checked, this was a deserted island, and we were a bunch of clueless idiots with no power here or over each other."

Kate couldn't help but feel a smile spreading over her face. That was what she loved about Charlie. With romantic issues, she was always upset and torn. Sawyer and Jack, Jack and Sawyer. But with Charlie she was just able to have a good time. No romance, no embarrassment, no fluttering heart.

"So really," Charlie continued, "you can't boss me around. So if I want to come, I'll come."

Kate shook her head. "Charlie, do you have any idea what we're up against?"

"Do you?" he countered. "Besides, it's not like I haven't fired a gun. Give me one, and I'll be ready. I already went on a few expeditions with you, after all. Remember any cockpits? 'Transceivers' ring any bells?"

Kate sighed. "Fine, you can come," she said.

"Well, now that I have your permission," he joked. "Can I have a gun?"

She led him to Sawyer's tent, ignoring peoples' stares and questioning glances, and got him a 9mm, the same kind she had. "I've got ammo," she explained. He pocketed the gun and left the tent with her.

**-Libby's Tent-**

"What do you think they're doing?" Libby asked.

"Knowing Kate, something that'll either help us a lot or hurt us a lot. Knowing Charlie, well, whatever Kate gets him into," Hurley replied, grinning.

"Do you ever think it's unfair?" Libby asked him after a second. "I mean, people like Kate, Jack, and Ana all just decided to be the leaders. There weren't any votes or any agreements from us, but they still love ordering us around."

She had a surprising coldness to her voice. "I guess," he replied. "I never really thought about it. I mean, they're good leaders, right?"

Libby looked uncertain. "I guess Jack and Kate are, sure."

"And Ana?" Hurley asked, not trying to pressure her too much. This was the first time Libby had even thought about talking about the tail-section life with him, and he was glad.

"She definitely wants to get the job done," Libby snorted. "No, that wasn't fair," she said after a moment. "It's just that, when Sawyer, Michael, and Jin came to us, her first concern was us. She didn't really care about them, even though they were from the same plane. She was going to leave Sawyer to die. Did you know that?"

He hadn't. Sometimes he wished Sawyer wasn't the way he was, but he'd never wish him death. "No," he said. "That's… wow."

"Now she's pretty much given up on being the leader," Libby said. "But with Jack, Kate, and Sawyer gone, we need one. Sayid's still shaken about Shannon, and that leaves…"

"Ana Lucia," Hurley finished for her. He wondered what the next few days would be like.

**-The Jungle-**

"Hey, Kate, can I ask you something?" Charlie asked nervously.

"Sure," Kate replied easily. She was trying to pick up Jack's trail, but there wasn't much. She could tell where Ana had found the necklace, because there were marks where Jack and Sawyer had probably tried to free themselves. But after the skid marks and dust, it went off a little to the left, and then nothing.

"Do you think I'm still on the drugs?"

Kate kept her eyes on the ground, knowing that if she looked at him, she might give herself away. The truth was, when he'd taken Aaron and basically made Claire miserable, Kate had had almost no doubts about Charlie being on drugs again. She'd been mad at him, because Claire was her friend, and he was hurting her. But now Kate felt differently. She'd seen him go through terrible withdrawals the first time, but it hadn't happened again. And ever since then, he'd seemed clean.

"Kate?"

"I don't know," she finally said. "I don't think you are, but there were times I did."

Charlie nodded. "I can understand that," he admitted.

"I don't want to believe you are, though," Kate said, giving him a small smile.

Charlie was glad. Finally, someone who didn't immediately assume he was on drugs. And not only that—Kate had true faith in him. He was glad. Maybe Claire was right. Being with her had cleared everyone else out of the way, and now that he was apart from her, being with his old friends was making him a little happier.

But he didn't have much time to enjoy the moment, because they heard the familiar snaps and snickers of the one thing they'd all been dreading: the monster. But this time, they saw it. Both of them.

_Monster ate the pilot, _Charlie remembered, his thoughts humorous but his body horrified. _And now monster eats us._

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but next chapter will be worth it. It'll be CharliesHoodie again, so look forward to it! _

_-kissbangx3 _


	3. If You Dare

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-If You Dare-

_by CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: So, was the last chapter a cliff with a hanger or what? (I'm insane, I know. Cliff with a hanger.) Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!_

**-The Jungle-**

Kate quickly closed her eyes and opened them again the next second. She turned to run, but was instantly stopped by Charlie grabbing her arm and jerking her back around.

"Charlie, we have to run!" Kate screamed at him as the wisp of black smoke approached them quickly, flashing as if a lightening storm was going off inside it.

"No," Charlie told her, his voice shaking slightly. He had seen it before with Eko; he knew it would do nothing if they simply did not move. If they did move – he wasn't sure what would happen, but he was almost positive it would involve a few uprooted trees.

"Are you crazy!" she cried, trying to pull away. Charlie grabbed her upper arms from behind and turned her around to face the thing with him. "Don't run."

Kate felt a sob in her throat. Not because of the situation they were in, but because of all the people who had told her those same two words, and how she had never listened. And now look where she was.

In a matter of seconds, the monster was in front of them – flashing and churning it's dark smoke. Kate almost squeezed her eyes shut, but didn't when she saw a distorted face in the smoke.

"Tom?" Kate said in quiet alarm to herself, taking a step back in sudden fear and confusion.

But right after she said his name, his face disappeared into the smoke and more images of faces she didn't recognize came into view but suddenly flashed away as soon as they became clear.

Kate felt hot tears stream down her cheeks. She blinked them away, and when her eyes opened again, the only trace left of the monster ever being there was her fear.

Charlie instantly let go of her and she felt her legs give out suddenly. She fell to the ground, shaken and trembling as she wiped her eyes. It had only been his face, painted there like a picture, but it meant so much more to her than that.

Charlie looked shaken as well. His eyes had an alarmed look and he had drawn a little blood on his bottom lip from biting down too hard. Kate swallowed hard and looked up at him.

"What did you see?" she asked him.

Charlie shook his head, dismissing the thought. He extended a hand and pulled her up to her feet.

"Lets just go. We need to find them."

**-The Beach-**

Ana walked into her tent, pulling her hair into a messy bun and wiping sweat off the back of her tan neck. Her tent wasn't anything fancy like the other people on the beach. There hadn't been any fuselage left when the tail section got there, so her frame was wood loosely put together with a blue tarp stretched tightly across it. Some people got creative with their structures, but she didn't have time for that. And even if she did, she wouldn't want to get "creative."

Ana just wasn't that type of person. She had been a police officer, risking her life daily. Not an artist, where the only worry was getting enough money together to eat a little – not dying. She'd rather read an article than write fiction. Watch a play and be dreadfully bored than acting in it. Laugh at a stupid ballet than be in it.

Catch fugitives, not be one.

To her, fugitives were artistic and creative. After all, they were master escapees; hiding traces of wherever they had been. And that's why she didn't like them. That's why she didn't like Kate. And that's why she didn't get how Jack liked her.

Jack had some pride – he was a chief of surgery, came from a rich family and lived a pretty good life, as far as she could tell. Kate was nothing compared to him. So why did he absolutely love her? Or, the better question, why did everyone say he did?

Maybe he just didn't.

Ana shook her head and sat on a mat Hurley had woven for the tail section people once they had came. She lay down and was about to fall asleep before she saw a folded piece of paper next to her pillow. She quickly sat up again and briskly unfolded it.

She read through Kate's letter and Charlie's P.S. and snorted angrily. She was so close to just following them and pissing Kate off, but her nicer, more humane side knew she had to stay with these people and keep them from going absolutely insane without some person of authority.

She just hated how Kate was – never planning anything ahead of time, not telling people what they needed to be told.

Now Ana was at a place where she needed to tell people one thing or the other – the truth or a lie. And she wasn't certain which to pick.

**-The Jungle-**

Charlie and Kate walked in their anticipated direction, hoping they were right. They had been silent ever since the monster left them alone; they both knew the other one was questioning what they saw.

"You think we're all just insane?" Kate finally spoke up, trying to lighten her mood by letting out a half-hearted laugh.

"Kate, with everything that's happened here…I would certainly say so," he joked, slowing down so she could walk next to him. "But seriously – what are the chances that we'd all be insane together?" he said with a slight smile. "I think this is all real."

Kate looked down, unsure of what she thought of the situation. It had _felt _real, that was for sure. Everything here felt real. Who was to say it _wasn't _real?

"_Only years of scientific studies. And the occasional law of science and common human beliefs," _Kate thought to herself with a grim smile.

She wanted so badly for it all to be a bad dream that she would wake from any second – or some very well designed prank. But deep inside, she knew it wasn't. Everything she felt and saw here was real.

* * *

"Charlie, we can't stop."

But Charlie had already thrown down his backpack in the small clearing and was wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Kate, it's pitch black outside and we'll just get lost."

"Jack and Sawyer are still out there!" she cried, pointing in the direction they were headed. But she had to admit that even with a flashlight, they wouldn't get too far.

"I know they are, and I want to find them just as much as you do, but we can't put ourselves in danger right now. What use are we going to be to them if we're lost…or worse?"

Kate knew he was right, but she couldn't help feeling bad about it. Reluctantly, she tossed her pack down on the ground next to Charlie's.

"We're going to head out right when the sun starts coming up," Charlie promised her, seeing the sadness in her eyes. He squeezed her hand gently, grabbed a flashlight, and went out in the woods to collect firewood.

Kate waited until the beam from Charlie's flashlight disappeared to dig in her bag for hers. Once she got a hold of it, she pulled it out and clicked the switch on.

The small, dark clearing spread out in front of her and she gasped slightly at its beauty. It reminded her of the woods back home that she used to play in. That was one thing she loved about the island – the naturalness of it didn't scare her at all.

Once Charlie got back, she took some of the branches and sticks from him and they made a small, arranged stack. Charlie put some dry grass and leaves around and on the pile and then lit the pile with a cigarette lighter.

Kate's eyes fixated on the lighter. It was a metallic blue, and she instantly knew it was Sawyer's.

"I don't smoke," Charlie told her, noticing that she was looking at it. "I don't do legal stuff," he tried to joke, but instantly feeling stupid.

"It's Sawyer's," Kate said, looking back up.

"Yeah, I got it out of his tent," Charlie said, pocketing it. "Figured it would be ok, since he isn't here to beat me up."

Kate smiled slightly and sat down on her blanket, huddling closer to the fire.

"Charlie?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the flames. "What did you see?"

Charlie fidgeted nervously and he absently snapped a twig. "Promise me you won't think I'm crazy?"

"Just wait till you hear about what I saw," she answered with a comforting smile.

Charlie relaxed slightly. "I saw people I knew – their faces." He shrugged. "I don't know what to make of it."

Mostly, he had seen Liam. But he also had recognized Lucy and his other band mates. There had been no explanation – no reason whatsoever.

"So did I," Kate answered, feeling relieved that she wasn't the only one who had seen these faces and images. They both shared comforting smiles.

"Here," Charlie said, digging around in his pack. He tossed a mango to Kate and grabbed one for himself. "I thought it would be easier to eat fruit than cook something on a fire."

Kate nodded in agreement and pulled one of Locke's hunting knives out of her pack. She carefully sliced the mango into thirds and then passed Charlie the knife. Charlie laughed.

"Thirds?" he said with a smile as he simply sliced down the middle of his.

Kate smiled back slightly and ate.

They ate together in silence. The whole time, Kate was thinking about Sawyer and Jack. Why was Sawyer with Jack in the first place?

Kate wiped juice off her mouth and tossed out the rest of her mango. "What do you think happened?" She asked Charlie.

Charlie swallowed his bite. "Obviously, the Others took them. I guess they were together, unless they went out of their way to get the other one if they specifically wanted both Sawyer and Jack."

Kate shook her head. "No, they were together. I think they wanted one or the other."

Charlie shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, really, who knows what's going on in their heads?"

"I just hope they're ok," Kate said, pulling her blanket over her shoulders and staring into the fire.

**-The Beach-**

Hurley took Libby's hand, a blush rising in his plump cheeks.

"Can I show you something?"

Libby was standing on the beach, brushing out her hair – wet and matted from swimming. She stopped brushing and turned to look at him.

"What are you showing me?"

Hurley quickly let go of her hand. "I…uh…I made a golf course up in the hills. I was going to see if you wanted to play a game…"

"I'm no good at golf…" Libby said with a shrug, turning back to brush her hair.

Hurley's shoulders slumped even more than they had been. He started to turn away, embarrassed.

"…But I'd like to learn," Libby finished. Hurley turned back around, relieved. She smiled at him and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Great, come with me," Hurley said, taking her hand again with confidence and leading her down the beach.

Just then Ana came out of her tent, arms crossed tightly over her chest and her eyebrows furrowed. She spotted Hurley and Libby walking away from the beach.

"Go back," she ordered, not even looking at them as she walked by briskly.

"Friendly," Libby said to Ana's back, edge in her usually light voice.

"I guess this is one of their official island meeting things," Hurley said with a sigh, leading Libby back to the main area of the beach.

"Ok, people," Ana's deep voice rang out, lined with irritancy.

A few people stopped to look at her, not used to having her talk to them.

"Hey, where's Jack?" someone asked her.

"That's what I'm going to tell you," Ana said.

This got everyone's attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around where Ana was.

Hurley and Libby walked over to where Sun and Claire stood. Claire was bouncing Aaron gently and talking to Sun in a hushed whisper at the same time.

"Dude, Claire, do you know where Charlie is?" Hurley asked.

Claire paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Four people are missing," Sun said, her face marked with worry.

"Ana should know things, though," Libby said with a dismissing shrug.

Claire looked over at Ana and scowled. "What does she think she's doing? Doesn't she know what people think of her?"

Everyone around them fell silent when Ana started to speak, eagerly awaiting news of the people that were missing.

"Some of you might already know this, but Sawyer and Jack were taken," Ana announced. Most of the camp started talking loudly, their voices scared as they tried to get more information from Ana.

"Calm down!" Ana nearly screamed. "Charlie and…Kate went after them to find the Others' camp. No one needs to panic, all right? We're just going to-"

"We need to go after them!" someone called out.

Ana shook her head. "No. We're all staying here until I get some news. I'm not risking anyone's life."

"That's a change," Libby muttered under her breath, remembering the first forty-eight days.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: I hope you liked it. Kiss is writing the next chapter, and I'm sure it will be awesome._

**Review Responses for Chapter 1 (by CharliesHoodie):**

**jimmy-barnes-13**: Thank you :-) It gets a lot better!

**speckled girl**: Thank you! I'm sure you'll like this story. We update every five days, since the story is still being written. We have up to 6 chapters right now.

**Macdaddymom**: You don't read much Charlie? o I guess it's good we have a lot of other characters! Thank you for the review!

**meangenius**: Thank you! Keep in mind that the reason chapter one seemed like it was written by one person was because it was! We write one chapter each, we don't write one chapter together. You probably knew that, I just misunderstood. Thank you for the kind review. I think you'll really enjoy the rest of the story.

**Review Responses for Chapter 2 (by kissbangx3):**

**Macdaddymom: **I can't say I blame you for worrying about Ana, I'd feel the same way. I appreciate all the praise and, of course, the review!

**Ernil i Pheriannath: **Sorry for the cliffie. This one wasn't nearly as bad. Thanks for the review!

**xx-steph-xx-falco-xx: **Sorry, we're not spoiling it by giving out the pairings yet, but keep reading and you'll find out! I'm glad you like it so far!

**Spice of Life: **Thanks, and here's your update!

**meangenius: **Yay, a long review! I'm hurt for Charlie that he's not your favorite, but I'm glad you said he had a great sense of humor. And I can't say I disagree about Sawyer… anyway, thanks, hope you like this chapter!

**jimmy-barnes-13: **Gotta love Charlie. Thanks for the review!

**speckled girl: **Yeah, I always liked the Charlie/Kate friendship in the show. I'm glad you do, too. Unfortunately there wasn't any Jack or Sawyer in this one, but you'll see them soon! Thanks for the review!

If you couldn't tell, we love reviews! The blue button is your friend!


	4. Hope Fails

**Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own**

-Hope Fails-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: This is when you get to meet your favorite people… the Others! Well, I hope they're not your favorite people. That would be weird. But you meet them. So… yay!_

**-Charlie and Kate's Camp-**

"Who are they?"

Kate's eyelids quivered but stayed closed. She knew better than to say anything when there were people there, probably waiting for her to stir and rise.

"They're from the crash," replied another calm, almost mechanical tone. Kate would recognize those certain, proud voices anywhere. The Others.

"Armed?" asked the first voice. Kate's thoughts shifted to her gun. It was tucked into the back of her pants as usual, and she knew it was pretty visible.

"Check the boy," the other one commanded to Kate's relief. She opened her eyes the smallest bit and glanced at them. Both of them were focused on Charlie. In a flash, she yanked out her gun, jumped up, and aimed it at the one leaning over Charlie.

"Get away from him," she said, her arm shaking. She didn't want to have to kill anyone, but if she had to, she would definitely choose one of them. She didn't recognize them from before, but she had no doubts that they were Others.

For a second the man hesitated, but then he rose. Kate's heart sped up as she saw that she was too late. He'd taken Charlie's gun and was pointing it at his head.

"What?" Charlie asked, stirring. His blue eyes fluttered open, and the second they saw the gun, they clouded over in fear. Without thinking, he jumped up.

The armed Other rolled his eyes. "Don't move," he said exasperatedly. He turned to Kate. "You shoot, I shoot."

Kate felt sweat dripping down the side of her face. She knew what she had to do. She wasn't about to let Charlie die.

"Now, I suggest you put your gun down," he hissed. "Now."

Kate lowered her gun, but she didn't let it go.

He inched his own gun a little closer to Charlie's head. Charlie glanced helplessly at Kate. She sighed and dropped her gun. The unarmed Other quickly took it.

Kate couldn't believe herself. She'd had the chance to kill them! She knew it wasn't right, killing someone, no matter what the reason was. But at the same time, she knew that if she _had _shot him, he wouldn't have gotten Charlie's gun in time. She could've shot the other and continued on their quest to find Sawyer and Jack.

"Where's Sawyer?" Kate asked, surprising herself. She'd expected herself to ask where Jack was, but she found herself worrying more about Sawyer. "And Jack," she added quickly.

"You don't get to ask the questions," one of them said. And before she could do anything, he had bumped the bottom of his gun on her head, and everything went dark.

**-The Beach-**

"Still want to learn how to golf?"

Libby looked up to see Hurley standing in front of her, holding two golf clubs hopefully. She smiled. She couldn't help it—despite his weight, Hurley really did manage to be adorable. "I'd love to," she said honestly, getting up. They left her tent together, making light conversation, but stopped when they heard shouting.

"She's not our leader!" someone was saying. Neither Hurley nor Libby could recall his name, but he seemed to have a pretty big influence on the people around him, who included Claire, Sun, and Locke.

"Neither are any of us, Ryan," Locke reminded him. "Ana used to be a police officer. I think she's the best equipped for the job in Jack's place." He always wanted to be part of the decision-making process with Jack, but he had no interest in leading everyone.

"She's not!" the boy, apparently Ryan, argued. "We need to go after them, whether Ana Lucia tells us to or not."

Hurley and Libby glanced at each other in concern as Locke spoke.

"Even if you were right," he said, this time not denying it, "you couldn't go there unarmed. You wouldn't be able to help them at all. And none of us know where the guns are."

"Well, then, we've got to find them," Ryan urged. "Think, guys. Where would Sawyer put his guns?"

Libby shook her head and left. Hurley followed her. "What was that about?" he asked her.

"No one trusts her," Libby said, shrugging. "I can't blame them. But going into the jungle after Charlie and Kate is not only suicide, but pointless, too."

"I don't think it's totally fair," Hurley said quietly, a little embarrassed to voice his opinions. "I mean, what she did to Shannon sucked, but it was an accident. That's all they're judging her from."

"That's not all _I'm _judging her from," Libby reminded him. "I've got all the experiences from the tail section."

He nodded. "I know. You're right. I just feel bad for her sometimes. I know what it's like to have people assume things about you."

Libby smiled sympathetically. "Hurley?"

He glanced up, still looking embarrassed. "Yeah?"

"Let's play some golf."

**-The Jungle-**

Both Charlie and Kate's arms were tied behind their backs. Gags were tied in their mouths, and blindfolds were over their eyes. Almost all their senses had been blocked.

"Kate," Kate heard Charlie saying. "Kate, are you still here?" His voice was muffled by the gag, and it sounded more like 'har oo hill here,' but she could make it out.

She sighed. She really didn't think talking was a good idea. "Yeah," she said. The man 'escorting' her kneed her hard in her leg.

"Shut up!" he commanded. "No talking."

"You're not going to kill me," Charlie said surprisingly bravely for a blind, gagged guy with a gun to his head. "I've already been in this position. And I'm bloody well going to make sure Kate's here, too!"

As Charlie's thoughts went back to Claire, Kate felt a wave of pity for her friend. This one time was infuriating, but to have it be the _second _time they kidnapped him…

"And last time, do you remember what happened?" the man with him hissed into his ear. "If memory serves, Mr. Pace, you almost died." He sounded amused.

Charlie was silent. Kate was furious. She remembered that moment all too well—Jack's persistent pounding on Charlie's chest, the certainty that he was dead, and then the coughing and springing back to life.

"How," she demanded through the gag, "can you say something like that so lightly?"

"'Heightly?'" he repeated in mock confusion. "I'm sorry. I can't understand what you're saying, since you're _gagged._" On 'gagged,' he kneed her again in the same leg, but harder. She winced in pain as they continued walking.

"Kate?" Charlie asked, his head spinning around, trying to be able to see something through the rough cloth.

"I'm fine," she sighed as they continued. She was fine physically, but mentally, she was insanely furious. She couldn't believe that anyone could be so heartless. And no matter how strong they were, she _had _to make a plan and break free from them.

**-The Golf Course-**

"Libby."

Libby didn't have to look up to recognize the tired, rough female voice addressing her. "Ana," she replied before swinging the club. The ball landed straight in the hole.

"Nice," Hurley congratulated. Ana Lucia cleared her throat, and Hurley quickly quieted and turned to her.

"If you have anyone else in mind to be leader, please let me know," Ana Lucia said.

Libby blinked at her. "Ana, I don't…"

"Because Kate left a note, a note that specifically told me to be the leader. Jack's gone, and even though they all love Jack, I'm the only one that's left. If you have someone else in mind, let me know, and I'll take it up with them."

"Ana," Libby sighed. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I know you. You're the only one left now. Eko doesn't listen to anyone, and he doesn't really care. Ever since Bernard was reunited with his wife, he's completely ignored me. And you're all that's left."

Libby's eyes stayed focused on Ana Lucia. "Just because I was in the tail section with you doesn't mean I support you any more than these people." She knew it was harsh, but it was true.

Hurley stayed quiet. "Can you talk to them?" Ana asked, actually looking hopeful. "I can't. I don't know what to do." She sounded desperate for help, which definitely wasn't an example of classic Ana Lucia.

Libby bit her lip and glanced at Hurley. "Any advice?" she asked him.

He finally decided to be bold. "Well," he said, "we found out that they want to take Sawyer's guns."

Libby tensed up, but she knew that Hurley had a reason for saying what he was saying.

"They do?" Ana asked, also becoming tense.

"Yeah," Hurley replied. "That Ryan guy was pretty much leading them, but I can't say Locke disagreed, and he's the one with the knives. Maybe you should, I don't know, get them first?"

Libby crossed her arms and gave Hurley a look. He blushed and stayed focused on Ana.

"Do you know where they are?" Ana asked.

Hurley shook his head.

"Thanks," she managed to say, and left.

"Hurley," Libby said, walking up to him. "We all have our rights to opinions, but why would you tell her to look for the guns?"

He hated fighting with her, but he'd done what he thought was right, and he was willing to stand up for himself. "I guess I just…" He looked uncomfortable. "She's a trained cop, you know? I doubt she'd, like, do the wrong thing with the guns. And we need a leader."

Libby sighed. "What about Locke? He seems trustworthy."

Hurley wrinkled his nose. "I dunno. He just seems like Jack, you know? About how he thinks he's kinda superior and, like, keeps us in the dark most of the time."

"You're right," she finally said. "I guess Ana is the most qualified." She let out a grim smile. "You know, a few weeks ago, we were best friends." She looked sadly up at him. "I guess the island changes things."

"For better, though, right?" he asked. "I mean, sometimes. Not all the time." He was obviously referring to their relationship, but he didn't say so.

She smiled. "Yeah. For better."

**-The Jungle-**

"Don't try anything." The man who'd bound Kate was now ripping off her blindfold. Once she could see, she noticed that Charlie's was being removed, too. She knew that she might have a chance right now, but she needed to be smart.

The two men tied them both up to trees. "As I said," one of them repeated, "don't try anything."

They left. Kate wasn't sure why, and she couldn't begin to understand why her blindfold had been removed, but she didn't have time to figure it out.

"Got a plan?" Charlie asked frantically.

Kate shook her head, trying to think. "No. You? You have something… cunning up your sleeve, right?"

"Me?" he repeated. "Kate, isn't 'cunning' more your thing than mine?"

She let out a short, stifled laugh and spoke. "I guess. Look, when they get back, they have to untie us, right? In that second, I'll just kick one of them, and I'll help you out and we can both go. Okay?"

He shrugged. "Okay," he said slowly. He didn't think it could be that simple, but he couldn't think of anything better, either.

"I have to say, I expected a more brilliant plan from you two," said a voice from the front of them. A second later, the familiar faces of their two kidnappers reappeared. "Honestly, Kate, you're a fugitive."

Kate glared at him. "You don't scare me. I'm with Charlie—I don't think you'll kill me."

"Yeah," Charlie said, sticking his chin up a little higher. "Right?"

He smirked at them. He held a gun to Charlie's head as he untied Kate and vice versa for Charlie. They began walking again, guns on heads, kicking and ignoring. "I guess that's for us to know and you to find out," he finally said. "But first, you'll get to say hello to your little friends."

**-The Beach-**

Ana Lucia knew Sawyer lacked the originality and effort to hide his guns any place other than his tent. She had no doubts that Ryan had some people looking all over the beach, the hatch, and the jungle for the guns, but she knew they would be here.

No one had seen her come into the tent—at least, no one had said anything, and they'd all feel too uncomfortable to mention it to anyone else. Talking about Ana Lucia had been like talking about lost relatives or pets: uncomfortable and avoided if possible.

At least, that was how it had been. Now she wasn't so sure. Plenty of people were standing up to her and discussing her position, even if it wasn't to her face. She couldn't blame them, but she hated it. It wasn't fair. Jack had been a doctor and she had been a police officer. Jack was the more important of the two, but that didn't make him most qualified for being a leader. Ana Lucia was raised around the law by her mother and, when she was older, the police force. Jack was raised around medical terms and techniques by his father, and when he was older, med school and hospitals.

"They don't know what they want," she thought to herself desperately. It was the same thing she'd told herself when Eko wanted to take Sawyer back, and when Bernard wanted to leave and find his wife, and when Libby wanted her to let Sayid go. They sounded sure, but they couldn't know.

Finally her hands rested on the handle to a box he'd dug. _Clever, _she thought, but she took it back when she remembered that he'd dug the box in his _tent._

She took the first gun her hands reached, which, thankfully, was loaded. Her thoughts flashed back to what had happened with Sawyer, and she felt another wave of regret. She hadn't even kept the gun. She couldn't use it on Henry, so she'd buried it. It was pointless, but she wasn't about to give it back to Sawyer, and she didn't want to let herself use it later.

_Lot of good that did, _she thought. Here she was with probably a dozen more.

She yanked out the box and held it tight to her chest, struggling to hold it because of its weight. She kept the gun pointed forwards as she exited his tent.

"Ana?" someone asked. "What are you… are those Sawyer's guns?"

"Actually, they're the hatch's guns," she said stiffly. "You Ryan?"

"Yeah," he said slowly. "C'mon, don't do this. Let's just give them out to everyone. Or just give them to me, and I'll do it…"

She laughed. "Sorry, Ryan. This is the way things are around here from now until someone gets back." He gave her a protesting look, but she matched it with a glare that silenced him. "Deal with it."

_A/N: In case you didn't notice, I switched things around a little—Ana and Sawyer still, ahem, made love, but obviously she wasn't shot afterwards. Michael is still gone, looking for his son, in this fic. Anyway, next chapter's by CharliesHoodie, and you'll get to see what happens to Kate and Charlie! And you'll finally be able to read about Sawyer and Jack now! Happy reading._

_KISSBANGX3_

**Review Responses for Chapter 3 (by CharliesHoodie):**

**xlongangelx**: I know you! You wrote a chapter for Hope in a Bottle. lol. Anyway, I love Libby too. I was just watching Maternity Leave the other day, and I was like "Aw, I miss her." I wish she wasn't dead...she was lovely for Hurley.

**Cowboyswithdimples**: Thanks for reviewing! About the Jate Skate thing, Kiss and I really don't want to give it away. I think, though, that you, personally will like the outcome.

**meangenius**: I don't like Ana, either. She annoys me. But I don't mind writing about her, either. She's really great for this story, so that's why I don't.

**speckled girl: **Thank you! Keep on reading!

_A/N (by kissbangx3): I wanted to get the update out by today, so sorry to anyone who didn't get a review response. All of your reviews are appreciated, and you can expect responses next update!_


	5. Like a Song Bird That Has Fallen

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Like a Song Bird That Has Fallen-

_by CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: Last chapter was pretty awesome! I hope you like this one._

"Give them this."

A girl, small in stature with long dark hair took the fruit from the man and quickly went back into the hatch-like room. Another man was seated on an old couch. He turned his head to look at her as she came in, closing the large doors behind her.

"Daniel said to bring them food."

The room was much like the rooms in the Flight 815 survivor's hatch, except there was no computer and it wasn't quite as homey. There were wires sticking out of the walls where equipment had been removed.

The Others had many fake hatches around their main camp. But this hatch was deeper in the jungle. Unlike John Locke's hatch, this one was above ground for easier access.

The man nodded toward the heavy armory door.

Apparently, there wasn't a lot of choice on where to keep someone captive in both hatches.

The girl expertly put in the code numbers with three quick twists of her wrist and pushed the door open. There, in the middle of the floor, sat James Ford and Jack Shepard.

Both eyes were fixed on her as she came in, leaving the door open behind her as was required, so Peter could make sure they didn't hurt her. Sawyer's eyes were more hateful and angry, when Jack's eyes were a lot more soft and large.

She reached behind Jack's head and undid the knot on the gag, letting it fall on his shoulders. She then untied his hands and handed him a mango and a cup of water.

She moved on to Sawyer, who was still glaring at her and looking ready to jump her once she untied his hands. But neither Jack nor Sawyer had tried anything yet. Peter always stood at the door, rifle in hand.

"Shhh," she told him as she untied his hands first. Once his hands were free, he flexed his fingers and rolled his shoulders but did nothing else.

"You can't say a word," she reminded him, untying the gag and letting it fall.

Sawyer wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What's this?" he spat. "You guys finally gonna feed us?"

Peter stepped forward, the butt of his rifle facing Sawyer. Sawyer glared at Peter. "Your bitch here hasn't done a very good job with the meals or laundry."

"Sawyer," Jack said sternly.

"Quiet," Peter demanded. He was much older than Jack and maybe only a few years younger than Bernard.

"Or what?" Sawyer countered.

Peter positioned his gun to point at Sawyer's head and Sawyer fell completely silent.

"This one doesn't eat," Peter told the girl, pulling the gun away and taking his place back at the door.

The girl nodded and quickly bound Sawyer up again. "You need to shut up," she whispered in his ear as she reached around his body. "We didn't want you, we wanted Jack. So if you want to stay alive, I suggest you keep quiet."

**-The Beach-**

Hurley, Libby and Claire were sitting together by the fire, blankets draped over their shoulders. Sun had been with them, but she left with Jin and Aaron. She had been insisting lately on watching Aaron for Claire – her stomach was really starting to show.

"I don't understand this," Claire said, shaking her head.

"Ana has the guns so no one will go out there and try to find Jack, Sawyer, Charlie and Kate," Libby said a little impatiently. It seemed like Claire was the millionth person she had explained it to that day.

"She's just not going because of the note Kate left," Hurley said with a shrug.

Both Claire and Libby turned to stare at him.

"Do you _want _to go out there?" Claire asked, looking at him as if he were insane.

Libby continued to stare at him, waiting for an answer.

Hurley didn't feel like arguing about it. Really, he wanted to go out there. He couldn't imagine life on the island with out the four people that were missing. Jack and Kate were always the problem solvers, even if sometimes they weren't much of a team. Sawyer was mean, but Hurley still had some kind of humorous bond with him. And Charlie was one of his best friends on the island. He couldn't just let that go.

"I guess I don't really care…" Hurley answered with a half-hearted shrug.

But they knew the truth, and so did he.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

The girl sat next to Peter, her thin legs pulled up on the couch and a thick book spread out on her lap. She squinted at the small print with interest as she read one of Poe's short stories. The entire book was full of great literature.

She had probably read the entire thing three times from cover to cover. She was interested in it, but a lot of the time she was bored and had nothing better to do than read.

She had found the book when they found the hatch. It was the first hatch they had found. They had completely destroyed most of it. They had also determined it was one of the major hatches since it seemed to control all the other ones and was above ground and so much more remote and difficult to find than the other ones. Even harder to find than The Pearl.

The Others had completely different ideas and standards than Dharma.

There was a forceful knock on the door and Peter jumped up and opened it. The girl looked up from her book and saw Peter half in the door way and half out, whispering to someone on the other side. She set her book face down so she didn't lose her place and stood up to see what was going on.

But Peter was done talking. He turned to the girl.

"I'll be right back. You stay here and do not open the armory, you understand?'

The girl nodded obediently and Peter left, closing the door behind him in a hurry.

The girl looked around the quiet hatch as if for the first time. She had been in it many times before, of course, but never alone like this. No, she wasn't entirely alone. But it felt like it.

She began to wonder where they had put the other books. They probably hadn't even kept them. It would be nice to be able to read something different instead of the old short stories and poems in her book. Some of the pages were missing. Either that, or the ink was smudged and impossible to read.

She had been seven years old when they found the hatch, and now she was twenty. It had been so long ago.

In the midst of clearing out the hatch they had dropped the book she had now, and she had taken it for herself. When she was younger they used to see her with it all the time but did nothing about it and didn't care.

Just then, the hatch door swung open and a girl with light brown hair ran in, breathless.

"Molly, you can't be in here," the girl said, moving to push her out.

"There are more people from the plane crash!" Molly cried, pushing the girl's hands away. Her cheeks were flushed from running and her eyes were wide. "I saw then down at the camp! A girl and a boy. Well, he wasn't really a boy. But a young man. Peter and Daniel are bringing them here!"

"Why?" the girl asked. "We only needed Jack, why are-"

"I heard that they were too close to the camp," Molly answered, cutting off her friend. "They would have found it and gone back to tell other people from their camp."

The girl nodded slightly, not saying anything else about the subject.

"Molly, you have to go now," she said, opening the door for Molly and leading her out.

"Promise you'll tell me everything about them later," Molly said before running off back to the camp.

Molly was her best friend on the island. She was a year older, but she was one of the first people the girl had met when she came to the Others and they had instantly become close.

She went back inside and closed the door behind her and sat back down on the couch. She was about to pick up her book again when the door swung open and Peter and Daniel came in with two other struggling people.

The girl jumped up off the couch again to see if she could help, but the men didn't even bother to say anything to her as they pushed the man and girl toward the armory.

She watched as the girl with dark hair and freckled face gave in and stopped struggling, leaning against Peter heavily and breathing hard. But the man Daniel had was still kicking and struggling. His foot kicked her knee and she winced slightly, stepping back. It then swung back around, knocking her book off the couch and onto the floor.

Peter had gotten the dark haired girl into the armory already and was trying to help Daniel with the man.

The girl looked away from the struggle and picked up her book. It was open to Poe's _Annabel Lee._

_But we loved with a love that was more than love – _

_I and my Annabel Lee._

It was the first line she read, even though it wasn't even in the first stanza.

She looked back up at the struggle and was shocked to find that she was instantly locking eyes with the man. He stared back at her with rage filled eyes until he was forced into the armory.

X.x.x.X

"There's too many of them in there now. They have to be taken out and restrained in this room," Daniel said to Peter.

"We need to talk to Henry about it first, then," Peter sighed. Both men got up.

"You stay with her," Daniel told him. "I'll go talk to Henry about it."

Peter nodded and sat back down.

The girl looked up as Daniel left and then back at Peter.

"Why do we have them?" she asked. "I thought we only wanted Jack."

"We do, but Charlie and Kate were too close to our camp. They would have found it and gone back to their people and told them where we were. We couldn't let that happen."

It was exactly what Molly had said.

She nodded slightly. She was still thinking about the poem. _Annabel Lee _was about a young couple in love. Annabel Lee became sick or gravely wounded – it never said – and died. Annabel Lee and the man she loved lived in a 'kingdom by the sea,' as the poem described.

The girl took the book and slipped a piece of paper inside the pages where the poem was and closed the book.

X.x.x.X.

Daniel returned a few hours later with Henry's permission to let the prisoners in the main room.

He and Peter led Charlie, Kate, Jack and Sawyer out of the armory and sat them down on the ground against the wall. None of them struggled – they were too exhausted.

"Take their gags off," Peter told the girl.

She nodded and pulled the gags off over the prisoner's heads and tossed them aside. They didn't speak – not even Sawyer.

"So, I guess you're all wondering what's going," Peter spoke, standing in front of them. "But we're not going to tell you right now," he said a few moments later, grinning.

The girl smiled slightly, but stopped when she saw Charlie staring at her.

He had ocean-blue eyes, shaggy blonde hair and a dark, scruffy beard. Something about him made her uneasy. She felt like she should do something like smile. But captors don't smile at their captives.

"I'm Daniel," Daniel said.

"Peter," Peter said after.

"Well," Sawyer spoke up, causing everyone to stare at him and Peter to tighten his grip on his rifle. "You three seem a lot more kept up than your friend Mr. Friendly."

Daniel looked at the other two, making sure they said nothing about Mr. Friendly's fake beard.

Jack glared at Sawyer and Kate sighed. Sawyer laughed and smiled smugly.

At this, the girl stood up in front of Sawyer.

"I thought I told you about keeping quiet," she hissed, glaring down at him with her soft blue-green eyes that had suddenly turned violent. "We don't want you, we don't have to have you."

Sawyer looked taken aback and didn't do anything more but glare up at her.

She glared back down at him and sat back down on the couch, suddenly looking drained and feeling scarily strange. She had never done that before – mostly because she had no one to do that to.

She was becoming more and more like these people she had been with most of her life, and she was still deciding whether or not it was good or bad.

"…What's your name?" Charlie asked her quietly, ignoring the warning she had given Sawyer as he wasn't sure if she meant just Sawyer.

The girl looked up slightly, but didn't say anything. When she said it to Sawyer, she meant it to Kate and Charlie as well. They just weren't as frustrating as Sawyer was.

"What is it?" Charlie insisted again.

**-Flashback, 15 years ago-**

The five-year-old girl stumbled away from the crash, her dark brown hair a mess and her light eyes wet with tears and rain.

She quickly turned around; her lacey pink ripped dress blew in the storm's wind. Behind her on the beach was her father's private jet – completely destroyed. The fumes surrounded her and she coughed, gasping for clean air. Every time the lightening flashed in the dark sky, the silver jet lit up, showing just how demolished it was.

"Mommy!" she screamed at the plane. "Daddy!"

There was no answer except for a loud crack of thunder.

Her eyes filled with fresh tears and she turned away from the plane, running forward in the soaking sand towards the trees to take shelter in the jungle.

She was stopped when she collided into something. Firm hands rested on her shoulder and she screamed slightly.

"Daddy!"

"What's your name, little girl?"

**-Present Day, The Others' Hatch-**

"Adie Carolton," the girl whispered.

_A/N: This was very Others oriented, I know. I'm sure you all were going crazy when I didn't just SAY Adie's name. It drove me crazy, too. But I knew it would provide a good flashback if I waited. So sorry for that. So, I'm going to leave chapter six up to Kiss!_

_-CharliesHoodie_

**Review Responses for Chapter 4 (by kissbangx3):**

**Spice of Life: **I hope you loved this one, too—you finally got some Other action! Thanks for the review!

**jimmy-barnes-13: **Now you know what happened next! I'm glad you like it, and I hope you like the rest. Keep R&Ring, and thanks!

**xlostangelx: **Yay, I'm so glad you're back. I love all the Charlie/Kate friendship too, and the Hurley/Libby's fun to write. Your Hubby fic was what inspired me to keep Libby in it. I think you'll like the rest of the Hubby in the story. I can't give anything away, but we do go deeper into their relationship. Thanks for loyally reviewing again!

**We love reviews! The blue/purple/periwinkle button is your friend!**


	6. Overcome

**Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own**

-Overcome-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Yay, now you know all about our Others situation! This chapter is both, Others and the beach. Enjoy._

**-The Beach-**

"I think we have communication issues, Hurley," Libby told him with a grin.

Hurley felt a blush coming on, but he didn't know what to say. On one hand, she was right—lately, he felt like they didn't talk straight much. On the other, she was mostly joking, and they definitely talked more than he usually talked to girls. "Yeah," he mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

Libby looked concerned. "I don't mean to make things uncomfortable," she said quickly. "It's just that…" She shrugged. "We crashed on an island. I wouldn't expect any two people to share the exact same beliefs on where to go from there."

He nodded. "Yeah." He still didn't know what else to say.

"What I'm trying to say is, it's okay if you don't think the same things as me," Libby told him gently. "Telling Ana about the guns was probably right. And I can't completely blame you for wanting to go after them."

Hurley relaxed. He always felt uncomfortable voicing his opinions that were different from Libby's, and he was glad she didn't mind, because he didn't think he could lie about how he felt, even for her.

"Thanks," he finally said. "I'm glad."

She smiled. "No problem. So no more communication issues?"

He laughed. "None."

They strolled together for a while. They were both too shy to outwardly hold each other's hands again, but their fingertips brushed together every few steps. Finally they reached the beach, where the previously angry storm of people had turned into a furious riot.

"She's not our leader!" someone was saying. Apparently Ryan wasn't the only one against Ana Lucia. "How could she take the guns? Was that supposed to make us _trust _her?"

"Hey, dudes?" Hurley asked quietly. No one paid any attention to him, and Libby felt bad for him.

"People!" she shouted, and everyone quieted.

"Why don't we, like, vote on someone?" Hurley asked. "It makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, that's what we did back in America. And I think Brits vote, too, for those prime minister people…"

Everyone seemed annoyed by him but thankful for his idea.

"He's right," the replacement Ryan was said. "We should vote. Everyone should nominate someone, and if that someone gets a second nomination, they can be in the primary election. And from there we can have an election."

Hurley blinked at him. "You were in politics, weren't you?" he asked.

The man nodded. "I'm a campaign advisor. Why?"

Hurley gave Libby a look, and she returned it with a laugh. Their jobs there were done.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"Adie Carolton. You know, that name doesn't sound particularly evil," Sawyer said bitterly.

She sighed and looked back down at her book. "You really shouldn't be talking," she told him tiredly. "My supervisor will be back soon, and he won't tolerate it."

"Supervisor, huh?" Sawyer asked, ignoring her threats. "So this is, like, a booming-business type of island cult?"

"Carolton," Charlie said, ignoring Sawyer. "I recognize that name. You American?"

She didn't say anything to him. "We're not a cult," she said to Sawyer. "And it's not at all a booming-business type. This is our life. Not yours. We control it."

"Or maybe Canadian," Charlie was saying. "I think Canadian. A lot of good bands are from Canada, you know. Are you from a band?"

"Sorry, Ava, but you don't control my life," Sawyer said. "Even if I'm dead, you don't. That is one thing you freaks can't take away from us."

"Ava? My name's Adie," Adie said in bored puzzlement.

"Nah, Sawyer uses nicknames," Charlie explained. "I'm guessing he meant Ava, like Hitler's mistress. Ah, that reminds me, I still want to check out _Mein Kampf, _or whatever tha's called. Anyway, really, are you from a band? Or perhaps a brother or parent? Because Carolton sounds familiar…"

She momentarily glanced at Charlie as if she wanted to say something, but instead she turned back to Sawyer. "Who's Hitler?"

Even Kate and Jack, who'd been completely quiet the entire time, looked surprised and amused.

"You don't know who Hitler is?" Kate asked, concealing a snort—or, at least, trying to.

Adie rolled her soft, light eyes and went back to her book.

"Aha!" Charlie said. "Bryce Carolton." Adie stopped reading, but not an inch of her body moved. She didn't speak. "Am I right?" Charlie continued. "Bryce Carolton, lead singer of The Flames?"

Adie's glance slowly lifted and her eyes met his. "How did you know that?"

Charlie's serious face spread to a huge smile. "Really? You're his kid? You don't look at all like him… except perhaps the dark hair, but I always figured he'd dyed his…"

"Did you _know _him?" Adie asked, her throat feeling scratchy and sore.

"Driveshaft opened for The Flames once," Charlie said happily. "We were probably more famous than them in pop culture, but it was still such an honor, you know? God, The Flames. They were monumental in the ages of rock."

"Hey, Timberlake, fun as this, something tells me she's the bad guy," Sawyer hissed.

"What ever happened to Bryce?" Charlie asked. "After he disappeared, they found a new lead singer, but it was kind of like Nirvana minus Kurt. They diminished."

Adie's eyes grew cold, but before she could say anything, Peter walked in.

"Have they made any moves to escape?" he asked Adie.

She shook her head.

"Have they said anything threatening, intimidating, or even rude to you?"

Threatening? No. Intimidating? Kate's remark had been a little intimidating—that a runaway convict knew more than Adie about politics had to be at least a little so. Rude? Sawyer's remarks, of course. But somehow she felt drawn to these people. None of her acclaimed family, the Others, had ever known her father. And yet Charlie had met him. She felt drawn to the prisoners rather than to her family. "No," she finally said. "They're fine."

**-The Beach-**

"I nominate Sayid."

It had been Hurley who'd said it, even though he'd told himself he wouldn't get involved in the elections. But no one had nominated him, and Hurley didn't see why, so he did it himself. He said it loudly, since Sayid wasn't standing around in their pack.

"What, exactly, do you nominate me for?" Sayid asked, walking over to them.

"Being our leader," Hurley explained lightly.

Sayid snorted. "You think _I _would make a good leader?" Hurley nodded; no one else spoke. "Well," Sayid continued, "most of you do not even know me."

"Raise your hand if you think Sayid here is best qualified for the job," Hurley shouted.

No one did anything. Sayid glanced down at the grass, obviously a little disappointed and pretty humiliated.

"He's been trained in an army," Hurley said, not mentioning which one. "And he spent a lot of time with Jack, Sawyer, Charlie, and Kate, the people who started our arguments in the first place. I think he's the best person for the job."

"It is not a job," Sayid objected. "We're all survivors of a plane crash. Nothing more."

"See?" Hurley asked hopefully. "So humble. Who votes for Sayid?"

After a moments' hesitation, most arms did go up. Once those did, pretty much everyone did.

Sayid looked unsure. Hurley looked excited. Libby looked proud.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"So you're the supervisor, huh?" Sawyer asked Peter as Adie sat quietly on the sofa.

Peter looked bored. "That's me. If you like that term. Now shut up."

"Why'd you take us?" Jack asked. "Me and Sawyer, that is. Originally."

"Okay," Peter said, looking annoyed. "My turn for questions. James, why is it that you feel so comfortable speaking with us when we have you captive? And Jack, why do you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Since we're using questions," Charlie said brightly, "I have one of my own."

Peter rolled his eyes. "How 'bout that."

Charlie nodded. "It's an excellent question, really. Would you care to hear it?" He didn't wait for a response. "Are you all aware that you're evil, or are you living some kind of alternate reality?"

Peter stood up in an instant, fists forming at his sides, fuming. Adie rose shortly after, gently taking his arm.

"Peter," she said carefully, "it's okay. They didn't know…"

"You think," Peter demanded, "that we're evil?"

"Alternate reality, as I assumed," Charlie said, nodding.

Sawyer also spoke. "Nah, we think you're as kind and goodhearted as the frickin' Dalai Lama," he said sarcastically.

"Sawyer," Kate muttered in a warning voice. She hadn't said much of anything, but she'd been wondering about the original captives' reactions. Why was Jack acting shy and timid? It was Sawyer who seemed brave. While she hadn't ever thought of Sawyer as a coward, it wasn't what she had expected.

"Wow, Freckles acknowledges my presence," he said, acting surprised. She raised her eyebrows.

"What?" she asked, truly clueless.

"Just that you haven't said a single word to me since we arrived in this… palace." Peter glared at him, and he shrugged.

"In case you didn't notice, talking isn't the first thing on my mind," Kate whispered back. She still didn't get it. Why were they even talking about this, especially with Peter there?

"Kate's right. Our first priority should be getting out of here," Jack said.

Peter's jaw clenched. "That's it," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a gun. "No more talking. Okay? No more snide comments from James, no more escape ideas from the heroes, and no more…" He shrugged. "Nothing more from Charlie, either."

Jack didn't seem to mind being called a hero, but Kate looked angry. She glanced at Sawyer, still surprised by his spout earlier, but his glance was riveted on Peter. His dark eyebrows were furrowed and his gaze was hard.

"You're not the bad guy, huh?" he asked, his sharp blue eyes on the gun.

Peter didn't reply. Kate and Jack kept their gazes down. Sawyer kept glaring but said nothing more. Charlie was glancing curiously at Adie, who was nervously fingering the pages of her book. He had a feeling that just as he thought he was with the good guys, she thought she was, too.

**-Flashback, 15 Years Ago-**

She'd told him her name. She didn't know what else to say. Now she was following him. She didn't know why or where.

"'Scuse me, where are we going?" she asked him.

"Back to my place," he told her softly. "Adie, I'm so sorry, but your parents are gone. We're the only other people on this island—me and my friends. We devote our lives to helping people. Would you like to be a part of it?"

Adie's eyes swelled with tears. He was so kind, but he wasn't family. "I just want Mommy and Daddy," she said. "Where have they gone?"

"Somewhere far away," he said. He stopped, kneeled, and smiled down at her. "My name's Peter, Adie. My friends and I are willing to take you in and raise you. Would you like that?"

"But my parents…" But she understood. They were gone. They weren't coming back. "Are you guys heroes?" she asked. "Like in the books I read? Because Mommy told me that in every person is a hero or a bad guy."

"We're heroes," he said with a wide, gentle smile. "Good, true heroes. Promise."

"Okay," she said, nodding. Back then, she'd been too young to question him.

**-Present Day, the Others' Hatch-**

Now she wasn't so sure.

**-The Beach-**

Nominations and preliminary elections hadn't been very official or accurate, but it had come down to Sayid, Ryan, the new guy, Jason, and surprisingly, Libby.

"C'mon, Libby, this is awesome!" Hurley was telling her. She hadn't wanted to be a part of it, but that didn't really matter to them. They figured that she was a kind of doctor, she was mellow, and she was nice, and those were the perfect traits for a leader.

"But I've never been a leader, and I don't want to be," Libby told him exhaustedly. "I'm sorry. It does sound interesting, and I'm honored." She spoke loudly, to everyone. "But I'm not a leader. I'll listen to your problems and try to help, but I can't take charge of them." She was a psychologist, not a leader. Maybe Jack was a surgeon and a leader, but she didn't know how to be both.

"Okay," Ryan said, shrugging. "So don't run. It's down to three."

Everyone seemed annoyed by his request. In the final election process, almost no one voted for him. Jason got several votes, but Sayid won by an overwhelming amount.

"What do you say, Sayid?" asked Bernard. "Are you excited?"

Sayid didn't look excited; he looked concerned. "I will be back shortly," he told them, and he turned to leave.

"Hey, Sayid, dude," Hurley said, speed-walking next to him as they headed toward the other side of the beach. "Where're you going?"

"I am going to speak with Ana Lucia," Sayid explained shortly. Hurley noticed that his eyes were fixed on her tent a little farther ahead.

"You sure that's such a good idea?" Hurley asked. "I mean, you're technically our leader now. She can't be too pleased with that."

Sayid ignored her as he reached her tent. "Ana Lucia?" he greeted hopefully.

"What?" she asked. She was leaning on an empty suitcase, fiddling with one of her guns, and she looked not only bored but depressed, as if she'd altogether given up on them.

"A lot has been going on on the beach," Sayid told her gently. "That you have missed."

"Huh," Ana said as Hurley shifted uneasily from his left foot to his right foot and back.

"Yes," Sayid said. "They have had an election, also. For who they want their leader to be. Would you like to know who it is?"

"I'm the leader," Ana said flatly, looking up at him through dark eyes. "I'm just doing what Kate wanted."

"With all due respect, you haven't been there for them," he told her. "You've been here, with your guns. They need someone who can relate to them, and who will know how to treat them."

"Sayid?" she asked through a glare.

"Yes?"

"You're not going to be their leader. Okay? At least, not completely. I'm keeping the guns."

**-LOST-**

_A/N: I wish I could've added more interesting captive/Others things, but there'll be plenty of that in the next chapter by CharliesHoodie, so don't think we're giving up on it. Hope you liked the beach drama! –kissbangx3_

**Review Responses for Chapter 5 (by CharliesHoodie):**

**jimmy-barnes-13**: Hey! Thanks for the review.

**xlostangelx**: Hmmm, a Chadie ship? Really, now, that would be interesting...(I love Poe. Remember that little passage, it kinda means something in it's own little way.)

**Spice of Life**: Oh, World Trade Center was very sad. Thank you for the review, and we update every five days unless there's a computer problem. But seriously, we're up to chapter 11, lol.

**Ernil i Pheriannath**: Once again, we update every five days. Sorry it's that long, but we like to keep you waiting!


	7. One of Us

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-One of Us-

_By CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: So, there's going to be some more beach stuff in this chapter, plus a revealing of someone who let Henry go._

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"Where are you going?" Adie asked, standing in front of Peter and looking up at him as he cleaned and loaded his gun.

"The same place I went yesterday," he answered, pocketing his gun and grabbing one of the many composition notebooks that had been stored in the hatch.

"You mean you've already started…?" Adie began to ask.

Peter nodded. "Henry wants Daniel and I to go for the next few days before he sends another group of two down."

"Why do you call him that? Why do you call him Henry? You know that's not his name, it was the balloonist-"

"Adie," Peter said, an edge to his voice. She quieted down and stepped away, letting Peter leave.

"What was that about?" Charlie spoke up as Adie sat down on the sofa.

Adie felt a smile coming, but she managed to keep a straight face.

"You really think I'd tell you?" she asked, looking at him.

"Well, you just seem a little more chipper compared to them," Charlie answered.

Sawyer shot Charlie a glare. "Because she didn't threaten me at all."

Adie knew she wasn't 'chipper', but she also knew she wasn't as mean as her family could be.

"She won't tell us anything," Kate said, glaring at Adie suspiciously, making her uncomfortable.

Kate, Jack and Sawyer were treating her as if she were exactly like Peter or Daniel. But Charlie was definitely different – he was able to carry a conversation, mostly with himself, about her father's band.

"How old are you?" Adie asked Charlie suddenly.

"Me? I'm twenty-seven," Charlie answered. Jack looked at him with a nervous 'you-shouldn't-really-be-talking-to-her' look.

Adie nodded, but quickly her forehead crinkled with confusion.

"I'm twenty. If…Drive…your band opened for my father's band, you'd be much older than me," Adie said, a little worried that he lied to her.

"She's right, genius," Sawyer piped in.

"No! We opened for them once they got their new singer," Charlie said quickly. Adie relaxed again and nodded slightly.

"So, what happened to him? I knew there was some kind of plane crash. Was it a passenger plane?"

"…Our jet crashed here with him, my mom and I," Adie said quietly.

Charlie's eyes brightened. "So he's here? Like, with the Others?"

Adie was quickly losing her patience.

"He's dead!" she nearly spat, her face caving in and looking heartbroken. Charlie fell silent and looked away.

But Jack, Kate and Sawyer didn't look moved at all. Adie was still one of the Others.

**-The Beach-**

"Can she do that?" Hurley asked Sayid as they walked quickly across the beach to the group waiting for them. "I mean, you're like, the official leader now and she just can't, like, not give you the guns. Libby could talk to her, if you-"

Sayid stopped. "Hurley," he said, exhausted. "Let me deal with it."

"Ok, man," he said uneasily.

**-The Jungle-**

Daniel and Peter sat in the outskirts of the jungle, only a few steps away from the beach. Ana Lucia's tent was further down the beach, secluded from everyone else's. They planned to visit that area later.

Peter pushed back the underbrush, but still made it so he wasn't seen. He saw the entire group there, standing in the sand – except Ana. He could name everyone there, if he really needed to.

"Hand me that book," he told Daniel, not turning around but extending his arm behind him. Daniel placed the book in Peter's hand, who opened it and poised his pen on the clean sheet of lined paper.

_'Claire Littleton nervous about Aaron's health without Jack.'_

Peter wrote down neatly as he heard Claire exclaim her worries to Sayid, who reassured her.

_'Jin and Sun Kwon worried about Sun's pregnancy and birth if Jack doesn't return.'_

_'Rose concerned about Bernard's bad back.'_

No one seemed too concerned about the other captives except for a few people. Someone looked Peter's direction and he pulled himself back deeper into the jungle.

"We've got what we need here, lets move down to Ana's tent," he said to Daniel.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"What're you reading?"

Adie looked up. She had thought they all had fallen asleep against the cold, gray walls; but Charlie was still up and staring at her as she read her book.

"A poem," she answered. "_Annabel Lee._"

"Yeah? The one by Poe? About the guy who's true love died? It still bothers me that they never say how she dies. I think someone hurt her, since everyone was so jealous of them."

Adie smiled slightly. That was exactly what she thought, too.

"The angels, not half so happy in heaven, went envying her and me – Yes, that was the reason, all men know, in this kingdom by the sea, that the wind came out of the cloud by night, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee," Adie quoted, her smile fading slightly at the sad verse.

"Yeah, I took a few verses out of the poem and made it into a song a while back. No one in the band liked it, though," he laughed slightly and smiled at her.

"It would make a beautiful song," Adie said, mostly to herself.

"If you knew anything," Sawyer's tired voice slurred. "You'd know that actual men don't do poetry."

Charlie blushed slightly.

"Gotta admit, though. Poetry is a very interesting subject coming from a junkie," Sawyer said with a grin.

Charlie tensed and glanced at Adie, expecting her to react in ways like other people did when they found out. But then he remembered.

They weren't friends.

Adie knew, anyway. Every once in a while, she caught things that her family said about the survivors. But she also knew he had given them up.

**-The Beach-**

"Some just needs to get Jack back," Claire said, exasperated. She had been against it before, but now she was starting to worry again. What if the only way to get their friends back was to go after them? "What if Aaron gets another rash and it doesn't go away?"

Sayid put his hand on Claire's shoulder. "Claire, I need you to calm down. I promise Aaron will be all right."

Claire calmed down slightly, but still didn't look very convinced.

Jin came up behind Sayid, talking quickly in Korean. Sayid turned around, his face already looking haggard and tired.

Sun was close behind Jin, talking to him in Korean and trying to pull him away from Sayid.

"Uh…baby," Jin tried, pointing at Sun's belly and looking at Sayid.

"He's worried about my baby and the birth," Sun explained to Sayid with a sigh. "I'm sorry. Don't worry about it. I'm sure Jack will be back soon…"

Everyone was just convincing themselves that the best would come of this.

Sayid nodded slightly and squeezed Jin's shoulder. "Your wife will be ok."

Sun quickly translated and they walked back across the beach.

In only a matter of minutes, Rose was approaching him. Sayid bit his lip, flustered.

"Sayid?" Rose said in her calm voice. "Bernard's always had a really bad back, you know. What if something goes wrong and no one knows how to fix it? The Doctor was a spinal surgeon, and he was always able to help Bernard out."

"Rose, at this point Bernard should just get some rest if anything were to happen. Jack will be back soon."

Another promise he knew he couldn't keep.

**-Ana's Tent-**

Ana stepped outside, holding her gun at her side and staring out down the beach at everyone else. They were panicked. Not just because Jack was gone, but because she had the guns. This strange girl they hardly knew had guns, and their doctor and leader was missing.

She sat down, facing the ocean; loading and unloading her weapon out of habit. It was more like a nervous habit, though. Something she used to do at the police station all the time, even though it was not recommended.

You never know when you might need a loaded gun.

She heard a brief rustle in the jungle behind her and jerked around. No one was there – and no sign of anyone ever being there, either.

She quickly loaded her gun and gripped it tightly as she turned back to the waves.

**-The Jungle-**

Peter jotted down notes, but not much.

"Daniel," he said, calling over his friend. "Is that the one…?"

Daniel had a better relationship with Henry than Peter, or anyone else back at their camp. So a lot of the time, people came to Daniel for information on Henry, who hardly ever made an appearance.

When Henry was captured, they had hardly even noticed he was gone until Daniel announced it.

"Yes," Daniel answered as he took a place next to Peter to look at Ana. "That's the girl who let Henry go."

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"I'm going to take a quick shower," Adie said warily, standing up from the couch. She didn't think they would try anything, and if they did, there would be people to stop them.

Kate, Sawyer and Jack didn't say anything, but Charlie spoke up.

"Oh, all right. That's fine," Charlie answered cheerfully. "We'll be right here."

Adie waited until she wasn't facing him to smile, then walked into the bathroom.

"…What are you doing?" Jack asked.

Charlie shrugged.

"She's not going to give you a cookie for giving it your best shot," Sawyer taunted.

Charlie blushed slightly and shrugged. "She's not like them, you know. She doesn't have that…feel about her."

Jack shook his head, Sawyer snorted, and Kate shrugged slightly. Obviously, they felt different.

Charlie bit his lip and looked down, not saying anything more.

"So, Freckles, any master plans building up in that head of yours?" Sawyer asked, tugging at his ropes slightly.

"No," Kate answered. What could they do, really? Even if they could escape, they wouldn't get far. It wasn't worth trying at this point until they could be sure.

"How about you, Doc?" Sawyer said, a small glint in his eye. "You're the hero, right?"

"Sawyer," Jack said warningly. If Sawyer continued with this nonsense about Kate, he was going to easily lose his patience.

"What, you're not going to help out your girl, here? That's disappointing, isn't it Freckles?" Sawyer said, his eyes shifting to Kate.

Kate was about to say something, but was interrupted as Adie came out of the shower, her stringy dark hair plastered to her neck and shoulders and smoothing out the new clothes. She sat back down, unsure of what to say to these people.

She didn't have to say anything. Just then, Peter and Daniel came in – sweaty and tired from the walk from the beach to the jungle.

"Adie, come in here," Peter said, leading her into a different room.

"What is it?" Adie asked.

"We're going to tell them," he said, looking nervous about the idea. "Henry says it's ok, so we're going to do it."

"What's going to happen to them, then?" Adie asked, glancing over at the captive's room.

"We're going to send back either James or Jack. They can choose. And they can tell the 815 survivors about what's happening, if they choose to do so."

Adie nodded slightly, and Peter leaded her back into the main room.

"James and Jack," Peter said. Both men looked up, alert and confused that they were being talked to.

"What?" Sawyer snapped.

"One of you can go back and tell your people what's going on."

Kate's head snapped around to look at her two friends, and Charlie met her eyes briefly – both were confused.

"That would be great if we KNEW what was going on," Sawyer said, gritting his teeth.

"It's sort of like an experiment," Peter explained. "We've been taking notes on how your people are reacting without a leader. We're not going to release our purpose of it, but we feel that you and your people do have the right to know, and we feel we are done with taking notes. One of you can go back, and you can tell them what is going on, but it is your choice. Just don't send anyone for the people you'd be leaving."

"Wait," Charlie objected. "Why are you giving Sawyer the choice to go back? Kate's more of a leader than him."

Sawyer shot him a glare, but Peter didn't answer.

"Who will be going?" Peter asked.

Kate didn't know who should go. She really didn't want any of them to leave, but Peter was very insistent.

"I'm not going anywhere," Sawyer answered, looking at Kate pointedly with a frown. But it wasn't an angry or upset frown – but a serious, almost thoughtful one.

Kate looked at Sawyer briefly, then over at Jack to see what he would do next.

"I was going to go anyway," Jack said, raising his hands up for his bonds to be cut.

Kate looked down. Jack really did care more about a group than a couple people, she just hadn't ever realized it.

**-LOST-**

A/N: Aw, poor Kate! Kiss will write you an excellent chapter 8!

**Review Responses for Chapter 6 (by kissbangx3):**

**Spice of Life: **I know, I love Charlie too. I'm glad I can attempt at making him as funny as he is on the show. Thanks for the review!

**jimmy-barnes-13: **Thanks! I'm glad to keep you interested.

**Ernil i Pheriannath: **Haha, thanks, here it is.

Reviews loved, coveted, worshipped, and appreciated!


	8. Truth is a Whisper

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Truth is a Whisper-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Firstly, thank you for the praise. : ) Secondly, sorry if you don't like some of the seeming pairings in this chapter, but KEEP READING please, because there's a Libby flashback at the end! Also, sorry if I make Jack and Ana seem unlikable, but I think this is how they would normally act. On the show._

**-The Beach-**

"Is that…?"

"No, it couldn't be."

"Well, find out!" someone shouted. Sayid was on it, with Ana at his side. They'd been at each other's throats, Sayid trying to get the guns and Ana Lucia keeping them from him, so it was natural that they'd both race across the beach to see if it was really Jack.

It was. "Jack!" Sayid said in relief when he reached the long-awaited doctor. Jack was tired and sweaty, but he stood tall and obviously was ready to serve as leader once again. Everyone jogged over to them, slower than Ana and Sayid but still eager to talk to him.

"Jack!" Claire greeted happily. "I'm so glad you're back! I've been so worried about Aaron…"

"Is he okay?" Jack asked. He obviously was looking for an excuse not to talk about what he'd been through.

"He's fine," Claire said quickly. "I meant in case anything were to happen."

"Ana took Sawyer's guns," Hurley told Jack, changing the subject. He knew it was his fault, but he couldn't stop changing his mind, and he knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do. He should've at least checked with Sayid. They were good friends. Ana Lucia had never been his friend.

Jack glanced at Ana Lucia. "You did?"

"Kate told me to be their leader," Ana said grimly. "So I did."

"Bull," said one of the survivors, but no one else said anything. Jack didn't seem to think Ana made a bad leader. In fact, he seemed to only care about talking to her.

"I'm really sorry," he said to everyone, "but I need to talk to Ana Lucia in private for a minute before I can explain what's going on."

Assuming he would get the guns back, everyone left.

"So?" Ana Lucia pressed. "What happened? Did they hurt you? Where are the others?"

"The Others or the others?" Jack asked, trying to make a joke.

Ana was surprised. It was rare for him; he was usually overworked. "The other survivors," she explained, grinning slightly. "Don't change the subject."

"They're…" Jack frowned, looking nervous. "Captive."

She didn't look entirely surprised. "All three of them? Kate and Charlie found you?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Not that they helped us." It came out mean, but she knew he was just getting the facts out.

"What're you going to tell them?" Ana Lucia asked, referring to the beach dwellers. "If you tell them Charlie and Kate are captive, they're going to want to send more people out there. And we can't let them."

"I know." Jack looked distressed.

"So?"

"So," he sighed, "we lie. It won't be the first time."

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"You worried, Freckles?" Sawyer asked Kate. She'd mostly given up on talking—she was too exhausted—but Charlie still made the occasional mostly-one-sided conversations with Adie, and Sawyer still cracked sarcastic remarks.

"No," she said. But her mind was still reeling from past events. _Jack left. So easily. Not a thought for me, or even for Charlie or Sawyer. He didn't have to think about it. I guess being the hero for the many is better than being the hero for the few._

He looked genuinely surprised at her 'no'. "Really? Doc's gone. You can't have much faith in me or Timberlake over here, can you?"

"Not really," she teased, laughing slightly. '_Doc's gone.' Sawyer's not. He said he wasn't going anywhere. Why? He had to want to leave. All of us want to._

As she laughed, her breath caught in her throat, and she had to stop. She hadn't had enough water, and it hurt to laugh. "But after everything I've been through, I stopped worrying. What's the worst that could happen?" She strictly avoided voicing her curiosity about his staying put.

Charlie, who seemed to be giving up on conversing with Adie at the moment, joined in on their conversation. "You could die," he suggested cheerfully.

"How optimistic," Kate said sarcastically. But he was right. _I _could _die. Why the hell did Jack leave when we could all die?_ It was wrong, but she was starting to get a little angry.

Adie tried to block out the sounds she was hearing from the couch. She didn't want to converse with these people, but she found them fascinating. How could Charlie stay so funny and cheerful, let alone try to have breezy conversations with his captors? How could Sawyer still talk to Kate like it was any other day? And how was Kate not worried? Even Adie was worried, and she wasn't the one tied up.

"So," Kate continued, grinning at Sawyer. "When this is over, and you tell Jack that you and I were caught in a hatch, d'you think he'll take that the wrong way?"

Sawyer's eyes glinted in amusement. "Well, you weren't there," he said defensively. "That's what is sounded like."

"Jack's not that modern," Charlie remarked. They glanced at him in annoyance. "Oh," he said, "sorry. Was I invading a Romantic Moment?"

Kate coughed in teasing surprise, as if to say "With _Sawyer_?", but the cough strained her throat, and it began hurting a lot more than usual. She couldn't stop coughing. They were loud, scratchy, throaty coughs that sounded dangerous.

Adie was up in an instant. Sawyer stiffened and was demanding to know if Kate was okay, and Charlie just watched helplessly, not knowing what he could do.

"Get her some damn water!" Sawyer shouted angrily at Adie.

"Maybe she needs CPR," Charlie suggested. He wasn't as frantic as Sawyer, but he did look scared for Kate.

Adie, looking pained, leaned over Kate and did the correct procedures for CPR. Kate's coughing sputtered and ended, but her eyes were closed and her body limp. Adie gently set her head down and rushed off to get her some water.

"See, she could've died," Sawyer spat at Charlie. "It's their fault. How can you be friends with that bitch?"

Adie came back in and Sawyer shut his mouth. Charlie glanced at Adie in interest. She was almost frantic, but also gentle, letting the water fall from a cloth into Kate's open mouth. She genuinely wanted Kate to live. Charlie didn't think she was a bitch at all, and he doubted she was even a true Other. She was a girl, nothing more and nothing less, a girl who'd lost her place in the world.

**-The Beach-**

"C'mon, Jack, don't you think we should go after them?" asked one of the guys who'd been filling in as unofficial leader. "We can't lose more people. When we're finally found, there won't be anyone left to rescue!"

"We can't," Jack said simply. "Kate and Charlie are still out there. Going after them would be pointless—we've already sent people out there."

No one suspected a thing. No one objected, either. Jack was the doctor, and almost undoubtedly the most intelligent survivor. They had faith in him.

"Jack," Locke said after a moment's hesitation. "Have they done anything to Sawyer?"

Jack frowned. He'd been honest about Sawyer: they captured him when they took Jack, and they hadn't hurt him or let him go. "No," he said. "Nothing bad. They're feeding him and keeping him in their hatch. Kind of like we did with Henry." He looked frustrated. _Until he escaped, _he thought angrily, but he didn't say anything more.

Locke immediately looked interested. "They have a hatch?"

"John, we've got more important things to worry about right now, okay?" Jack said in an exasperated voice. He wasn't being fair, and he knew that, but Locke always insisted on looking into the paranormal aspects of the island and frankly, Jack didn't want to know. He was a man of science. He didn't want to know about things he couldn't wrap his mind around, because those were the most intimidating.

"Okay," Locke said, letting go as he usually did. He shrugged and left.

"Okay, does anyone have any wounds or illnesses they've been having trouble with?" Jack asked. "Sometimes it could be a bigger deal than you think."

People swarmed around him eagerly, and Sayid stayed silent. How could they trust Jack so much, to that degree? If Sayid had said not to form a search party, they would've questioned him. But not Jack.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

About ten minutes had passed, and no one had said a word. Kate was trying to put on a bright face, but she couldn't control her swarm of thoughts. _Why'd Jack leave? Why'd Sawyer stay? Am I going to die here?_

Sawyer was deep in thought. Even he didn't understand why he'd been so eager to stay. Sure, the beach wasn't much better, but at least he had freedom. This place was terrible. No freedom, only being tied up and fed boxed food. He must've stayed because of Kate. But what could he do, really? She was the fugitive—if anyone was to come up with an escape plan, it would be her. So maybe he just liked being with her.

Charlie's eyes were still on Adie. He knew she and everyone else were just passing him off as the joking musician, but he wasn't staying positive to be funny. He was staying positive for his friends, and for Adie. Sawyer and Kate could make small jokes, but they were only to cover up their depression. And Adie was beyond depression. She was living a haze, as he saw it: doing what she was told, reading the same book over and over again, and watching hostages as if they were the first people she'd seen in years.

"Have you ever been with the children?" Charlie asked her thoughtfully. He doubted she'd answer him, but it was a useful question. He wanted some knowledge to come from this, so that he wouldn't go back to the survivors completely worthless. Her supervisors were gone, taking notes on the return of Jack, and he knew Adie was his only chance.

She said nothing to him. She didn't look at him, but her eyes flickered and looked up, about where his feet were.

"Nice shoes, right?" he asked, grinning. Kate and Sawyer watched in half amusement, half exhaustion as he continued. "But, I mean, your beloved family has had to take at least ten or twenty kids, right? And that's just from our plane. Who knows who else you've taken? Rousseau's ship? Or did they really all die?"

Her silence continued, her eyes still downcast.

"What's the point?" Sawyer asked Charlie. "She's just like them."

"They're fine," Adie said, surprising them all. "The children. They're not hurt. They're relatively happy. We don't tie them up. They're kept in better conditions than you."

"Oh, then I completely forgive everything you've done," Sawyer muttered sarcastically.

"Did Walt really find us?" Charlie asked. "Shannon? Sayid? They said they saw him. But you top-notch island dwellers wouldn't let that happen, would you?"

"I can't answer that," she said after a second. "It's… he's… different."

"Why do you take them? Not just children. All of them."

"We take the good ones," she said. She looked disappointed in herself, but she obviously wanted to talk. "The ones with good hearts. And the children… they can be swayed. They have young minds."

Charlie narrowed his eyes. "So what're we, chop liver? We have perfectly bloody good hearts. But I have a feeling we weren't taken because of that."

Adie laughed. "Con-men, fugitives, and recovering drug addicts aren't quite up to our standards."

"What about doctors?" Kate asked quietly. "Leaders? Jack's a good person."

Sawyer stayed silent.

"Without Jack," Adie said, "you'd all be dead. You should've seen the beach without him. Everyone tells me it was a disaster."

"Did anyone die?" Charlie asked immediately.

Adie shook her head. "No. No one died. We don't kill."

"Excuse me?" he asked, finally sounding mad. He hadn't been mad yet, and it almost scared Adie. "If I remember correctly, Ethan tried to kill me. And what about when we followed you, to try to save Claire? You came in through the water and killed one of us! I'll accept that you're not like them, but God, you're murderers!"

Tears welled in Adie's eyes. "They were doing it for a good cause," she whispered, but she knew he was right. They _were_ almost like a cult in a way. They tried to do good, but they'd stop at nothing to achieve it. "To get the baby. They needed the baby."

"Claire bloody needed the baby!" Charlie shouted. "He's _her _baby!"

Adie didn't say anything. She couldn't argue; he was right. But she couldn't admit it. The Others were her family, not the castaways, and her loyalties lied with them for now, if not for forever.

**-The Beach-**

Hurley and Libby were taking a stroll on the beach, not saying much but still enjoying themselves, when Hurley spoke up. He still felt iffy with discussing Jack and the politics of the island with her, but he knew that if they were ever going to have a meaningful relationship, he'd have to get passed it.

"I think Jack's lying," he told Libby. "I'm not sure what he's lying about, exactly, but he is. He sounded weird when he was talking to us. Almost, like, mechanical. You know?"

Libby squinted her eyes in thought. "I guess I noticed," she said plainly.

He shrugged. "Doesn't that make you mad?"

Libby looked scattered and nervous. "I don't know," she said. "I mean, if he's lying for a good cause, then maybe we should let it be."

Hurley was surprised. "So as long as he's lying to you for a good reason, you don't care that you're not getting the truth?"

"Politicians do it all the time," she joked, but her voice was still nervous. Hurley didn't understand. Did she really not care? He'd never seen her as the kind of girl who'd shrug off something like this.

"And politicians are idiots," Hurley reminded her.

Libby kept her eyes away from him. "I've, uh, gotta go," she said in a flustered voice, and she jogged off toward her tent. Hurley would've followed her, but he could sense she needed to be alone.

_Lying for a good cause, _she told herself as she ran, _is fine. It's fine._

But she knew it wasn't.

**-Flashback, 10 Years Ago-**

"I didn't kill my husband." Libby's voice was torn and tearful. She could hardly make out the words. They were just so cruel and unimaginable. And she was still suffering the loss of David. How could they possibly think she did it?

"Excuse me, Your Honor, but unless Ms. Reynolds has actual proof or greater reason, this is hardly appropriate."

Libby had to lower her eyes to fight the urge to glare at the man who had spoken. She wondered how lawyers could live with themselves, protecting the guilty and accusing the innocent. She knew that sometimes they did the right thing, but the point was, they didn't care. Lawyers were meant to serve justice, and so few of them did any more. This prosecutor didn't know anything about her, and he was trying to land her in jail.

"Understood," the judge said. "Ms. Gregory, anything further?"

"Nothing further, Your Honor," replied Donna Gregory, Libby's lawyer. She was fairly expensive—being a psychologist, Libby could afford her—but wasn't helping Libby's case much. Her only good argument so far had been that Libby didn't need the money. So why would she kill her husband?

_I didn't kill him, _Libby repeated in her head. Tears were falling, and she tried to stop them, but she couldn't help it. She was on the stand for murder when all she'd ever done was try to help people. And she missed David. She'd loved David. How was this possible?

The rest of the hearing was a blur. Libby didn't notice much, and Donna didn't say much. The only other suspect was David's brother. Greg, the brother, had been known to be jealous of David to quite a high extent, but not enough to murder him. Besides that, Greg had almost definitely been in Hawaii at the time of the murder. There were no witnesses, though; only a plane ticket.

When the hearing was over, nothing was decided, but it was obvious who the court would favor: Greg. It looked like Libby had done it, and she definitely didn't have any kind of excuse.

"What do I do, Donna?" Libby asked as she stepped into the hallway. She was handcuffed and surrounded by guards, but she knew Donna was allowed to be there. "I can't plead guilty. It's not true."

"May I have a moment alone with her?" Donna asked the guards politely. Without a word, they attached Libby's handcuffs to a seat and walked down the hallway, still lingering but not in hearing range.

"The case was a mess," Donna said slowly. "The murder. Blood everywhere, destroyed house, apparently a note scribbled on the shower mirror, though they couldn't read it. They don't think the person who committed the murder was… right in the head."

Libby shrugged. "What does that have to do with me?" she asked, trying to ignore the pain in her wrists.

"Isn't it obvious? If you don't want to spend the rest of your life in jail, spend it in an asylum. You're going to plead insanity."

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Now you know our side of why Libby was in the insane asylum with Hurley! There'll be more Libby flashbacks later on, though not necessarily right away. CH is next, so read and enjoy!_

**Review Responses for Chapter 7 (by CharliesHoodie):**

**xlostangelx**: Chadie? Noooo. Why would you ever think that? ;-)

**jimmy-barnes-13**: Yes, poor Kate :-( And she gets poorer.


	9. Us and Them

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Us and Them-

_by CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: Last chapter was pretty cool, huh? Thank you for all the wonderful reviews!_

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Adie was in the bathroom, the door closed. She was staring in the dusty mirror at her reflection and wiping her eyes every few minutes and letting out a small sob. Charlie hadn't eased up on his argument with her, and she was afraid to go back out there with him.

The girl who looked back at her was tired and sad. Adie didn't think so, but she was naturally beautiful. Even in her current state.

Meanwhile, back in the main room, the three captives sat. Hardly talking, waiting for someone to come back in with them.

Adie took a deep breath. She didn't know when Peter would be back, so it would be better for her to go back now.

She slipped out of the bathroom and into the main room, not meeting Charlie's eyes as she sat back down at the couch, reaching for her book on the side table.

"We need to talk," Charlie said. Adie's eyes flickered over to his, but his eyes were on the book. She withdrew her hand and Charlie looked back up at her.

"Claire said during the time she was with Ethan she was drugged. Ethan treated her well; he showed her Aaron's room. She was even allowed to knit _booties_ for the baby. Ethan…he told her that he would miss her when she was gone. And then told her that no one would take her away from her baby if she didn't want to. Sounds nice, right?" Charlie said, looking deeply troubled by the story.

Adie shrugged slightly. She wasn't very familiar with the story about Claire.

"Then Alex came," Charlie continued, getting Adie's attention. "I don't know what you guys did to Alex, but she's good. She tried to get Claire out of there. She said they were going to cut Aaron out of her – that she was going to die in the process. They were going to kill Claire! These people that you think are your family were going to kill her!"

Kate glanced over at Adie to see what she would say. After Claire had remembered, she had told Kate. Word got around that Claire was remembering, but not the exact story. Charlie came to Kate for the answers, and she told him the story.

"Sometimes…" Adie began, not looking them directly in the eye. "We do have to…kill. If it benefits us."

Charlie glared at her, looking ready to say something.

"But I had nothing to do with what happened to Claire!" Adie objected quickly. "I didn't know what they were doing. I…I didn't think Ethan or anyone else would do that…"

Adie was surprised about Alex. What had Alex been doing over at the medical hatch? Did Alex know more about their family then she was supposed to? _Why would they kill Claire instead of waiting for the natural birth?_

Maybe these people that she called her family weren't exactly who she thought they were.

"You didn't think Ethan would do anything like that?" Charlie nearly screamed. "He hung me from a tree by my neck! And then he lied to Claire and told her _he sent me back to camp! _I don't know if you're clueless, or if you know everything – but that is who these people you love really are, Adie!"

Kate and Sawyer weren't saying anything. They were silent the whole time, looking at each other nervously every once in a while.

Adie stood up. "You have no idea how much I really don't know," she said quietly as she left the room.

**-Flashback, 15 years ago-**

Adie walked over to the window, looking out curiously as the clouds passed by. She had ridden the jet many times, but she still was amazed every time she flew.

She stepped away from the window and circled around the lounge area. Her father's guitar was on a stand in the corner, recently cleaned and the strings changed. She picked it up carefully and sat down in one of the chairs, pulling the huge guitar on her little lap and plucking the strings. She played the few chords she knew and randomly strummed down on the strings.

"Mum?" she asked, looking up as her mother came in the room, a wine glass in one hand and a mystery novel in the other. "Will you turn on the amp?"

Her mother laughed and shook her head. "Adie, no. It's peaceful right now, and it certainly isn't when someone in this family has a guitar," she said, referring to Adie's father.

Adie laughed. "Can I have a medium pick, then? Those are the ones Daddy says play well with this guitar."

"I'm sure you're fine playing your fingers, love," her mother said, leaving the room.

Adie shrugged and strummed the strings absently. She wanted to learn to play songs, but everyone was always too busy to teach her. She figured she could make her own songs, if no one wanted to teach her how to read and play music.

"Your mum won't give you a pick?"

Adie looked up and smiled widely at her dad. "No, she won't."

"Well, here you are," he said, fishing in his pocket and pulling out a pick. "It's a medium. Perfect for these strings."

Adie smiled and strummed the strings in a downward motion with the pick. It let out a richer sound, and she grinned up at her dad.

"You want to be brilliant, just like your dad, don't you?" he asked, kneeling in front of her. "You know, I bet you're just as musically talented. But even if you don't want to do music, promise me you'll marry a musician, all right?"

Adie nodded. "Promise."

"People think musicians are scum, that they can't keep one girl. But if you find the right one, you'll be happy just like your mum and I."

Adie smiled and nodded, putting the guitar back down on the stand.

Her father smiled and hugged her gently. "I've got to go up front to see if we're off course any. That's been happening, don't know why."

Adie nodded and watched her dad leave.

She didn't know that would be the last time she would see him.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Inside, Charlie felt like Adie was good.

She seemed innocent enough, nice enough. Clueless enough, too. Really, she didn't seem like she knew much if not anything about what happened to Claire. It could be an act – but something inside him just knew.

"This is just like them," Sawyer snapped. Charlie hadn't really been listening to he and Kate's conversation. Adie had left the hatch, and they had been talking off and on while he had been sitting quietly.

"I never thought for one second she was anyone good. This is all some mind game," Sawyer said, sounding very sure of himself.

Kate shrugged a little and didn't say anything, but Charlie could tell she had the same mindset.

"I don't know," Charlie spoke up. "What if she really just…doesn't know?"

Sawyer looked over at him, shocked. "You just yelled at her about your little girlfriend, and now you're on her side again?"

Charlie cringed slightly. He didn't want to tell Sawyer all the details about the issues he and Claire had. That would just be asking to be the newest island joke.

"Look, of course I'm mad. I'm mad at the people who have been hurting us. But I don't think she's one of those people. I don't think she's in with them as much as we think," Charlie said.

Kate hated to disagree with him right now, especially when she knew Sawyer was going to be a huge jerk about it. She knew what it was like to have everyone against you.

"Charlie," Kate said with a sigh. " I don't want you to think so greatly about her and then get hurt…right now, I'd just stay neutral about this whole thing because we could end up doing what the Others want us to do."

Charlie scowled slightly. "I'll think what I want about her. She's different. I don't get how you can't tell!"

Being tied up ruined a dramatic exit. And it made him feel even more foolish when he thought about how Adie was the one who had done it.

**-The Beach-**

Back at the beach, there was a lot of guilt going on.

Jack and Ana felt guilty for not telling the whole truth. Well, Jack more than Ana. He knew that a lot of what he had said was a lie, and that these people deserved the truth – but they also deserved to be protected. Right now, this large group was his priority. Although he was worried about the three of the others captured, he knew he couldn't risk any more lives.

Ana felt guilt – she was human. But she didn't express it. She hardly expressed it internally, either. That was just who she was – Officer Ana Lucia. Stiff and expressionless.

And then there was Libby. Hurley had realized what Ana and Jack were saying wasn't entirely true, and had expressed that to her. Like she was a do-gooder, always catching the liars and cheaters and being her perfect self at the same time. He really had told her about it like she had never told a lie in her life. No, Libby hadn't lied to Hurley. But she hadn't been honest either. How would Hurley react when he found out she knew they were in the same asylum and had never told him?

Hurley was feeling guilty as well, for a reason he didn't know. He felt like maybe he was doing something wrong with Libby, and that was why she had seemed to back off when he talked about Jack and Ana's explanation. After all, it seemed like he was always the problem – always carrying the bad luck.

They all hoped that in the end things wouldn't be as bad.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! It was kind of a filler. Thank you for all the reviews, again!_

_-CharliesHoodie_

**Review Responses for Chapter 8 (by kissbangx3):**

**pacejunkie: **I know, I can't stand Ethan. Michael should've mentioned him when Henry said "We're the good guys." Anyway, Kate was just a little sick and very dehydrated, but don't worry for her life, or anything. Thanks!

**xlostangelx: **I figured you'd like that—the Skate and the Libby flashback. Thanks!

**jimmy-barnes-13: **We're both trying to make Libby's past realistic and interesting, and there'll be more of that in future chapters. Glad you liked it! Thanks for being so loyal to our story!

**We heart reviews! A lot!**


	10. A Storm is Coming

Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own

-A Storm is Coming-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Don't mind her—last chapter was great, eh? Anyway, I hope you like this one!_

**-The Beach-**

Not everyone was thrilled about Jack's return. "Not everyone" being John Locke, anyway. He was glad their doctor was all right, but he wasn't pleased that their secretive leader was back in the throne.

He hadn't said anything to Jack, but he'd noticed a few other people complaining about it. They never faced Jack with their questions, but they did seem to worry.

"We have to get them back," someone was saying. "They're killers. They're going to kill all of them."

"If they haven't already," added someone else. Locke couldn't agree more.

But before they could create any kind of plan, Jack himself walked up to them.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked calmly. Ana Lucia was next to him, not looking as cheerful but still looking a lot happier than she'd been when she was the unwanted leader.

"Still lost on an island," Hurley said grimly. "Not much has changed."

He hadn't talked much with Libby since Jack had returned. A few days had passed, and even though he approached her a few times, she felt distant with him. Hurley didn't know what was going on, and Libby didn't seem very eager to explain.

But as a crowd gathered around them, Libby also came. She didn't stand next to Hurley, but her eyes did meet his. He couldn't quite label her expression. Was it apologetic or was it still closed off?

As Locke confronted Jack about his dishonesty, Hurley left the crowd as quietly as possible and circled around to Libby.

"Hey, I really want to talk to you," he told her.

She looked nervous. "Uh, maybe another time," she said politely. "I really want to know what's going on…"

He shrugged. "Lies? Fights for leadership? Nothing important."

She bit her lip and turned to him. "Okay," she said with a sigh, "fine."

"Great," he said, a smile breaking onto his face. He didn't know what was going on with her, but he knew that he'd missed her.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

He frowned. "Okay, so… not to be forward or rude or anything, but, like, why have you been avoiding me?"

She blushed. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Isn't it kinda obvious? We went from seeing each other all the time to… like… not." _How eloquent, _he thought to himself, but Libby didn't seem to mind.

"I know," she said with a sigh. "It's just that—er—I really like spending time with you, you know? But we have so many different beliefs, and I just don't want to fight with you right now."

"Just because we have different beliefs doesn't mean we'll fight," he argued. "We've managed so far."

She frowned. "I know. I'm just…"

He shrugged again. "What?"

"I'm not sure about anything."

**-Flashback, 8 Years Ago-**

"4-8-15-16-23-42."

Libby felt her head swelling with a migraine. She knew she should be used to everything by now, but she still felt a wave of depression every morning she got up. She didn't belong here, and it was driving her insane.

"Dude, you're an idiot."

Finally, someone who knew what was going on. Libby glanced up to see a very overweight man who was cute in his own way. He was laughing and pointing, but she couldn't see who he was talking to. The man chanting the numbers didn't seem to notice; he simply repeated them over and over.

"Okay, Libby, here are your pills." Libby's doctor, Phoebe Reynolds, was smiling pleasantly down at her. "Go ahead and take them."

"Thanks," Libby lied as she accepted them. She hadn't taken the pills once in her life. As Phoebe left, Libby started to hide them, her eyes still on the man. But his head turned, his mouth still forming a smile, and he looked at her. She shuddered, not sure what to do, and before she could stop herself, she was shoving the pills down her mouth.

Libby wasn't sure why she had taken them, but she never wanted to be suspected of faking the insanity plea. She would love to get out of the asylum, but not in favor of jail. These people were insane, but not dangerous, really. They probably thought _she _was, but she didn't have anything to worry about.

From that day forward, Libby took her pills every day. A few days a month, the man would look over and notice her, but he never approached her, and she didn't dare, because the more time Libby spent taking pills and being told she was insane, the more insane she became.

**-Present Day, The Beach-**

"Libby, if there's something you're not telling me, you can trust me," Hurley said. "I mean, I found out Kate was an ex-con, and we're still pals."

Libby laughed. "Sorry. I've just been thinking more about my past lately, and when I do things like that, I mostly like keeping to myself."

He shrugged. "Nah, it's cool. But, I mean, if you ever wanted to talk to _me _about your past or whatever, that's cool too. Because the whole psychology thing is pretty awesome."

She laughed. "What, sitting around while people complain about their lives? Yeah, how admirable."

"No, I mean it," he said. "Okay, don't get freaked out, but I was in a mental hospital for a while, and the psychologists really helped me out."

She stiffened. This was the perfect time to tell him. But could she?

"What?" he asked, sensing her discomfort. "It doesn't freak you out, does it? Because I'm totally sane now."

"No, it's nothing," she said quickly, but she wasn't fooling herself. It was everything.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Adie was back. Despite recent events, this caused Charlie to blabber.

"I have a theory," he announced.

"Oh, yippee, storytime," Sawyer muttered. But Adie was there, and as she gave him a harsh glare, he shut up. Kate just sat in exhaustion.

"My theory," Charlie continued, "is that you, Adie Carolton, are actually a good person with a pure soul."

Adie snorted. She wasn't the snorting type, but she couldn't help it. "'Pure soul?'" she repeated. "Charlie, no offense, but aren't you the drug addict?"

He sighed. "I'm bloody recovering!" he nearly shouted. "Bollocks, you're all stereotypical lunatics."

Kate chuckled to herself. "The accent really helps the cause," she joked.

Charlie glared at her but turned to Adie as she spoke. "What made you think I didn't have a pure soul in the first place?" she asked quietly.

"Uh, how's about your 'family,' freak?" Sawyer spat.

Adie didn't say anything; Charlie did. "All I'm saying is, you could do a lot of good if you stopped following everything they said," he said. "Sawyer and Kate, they don't have as much hope as I do. But I am quite a faithful person. I'm an empath. I can read your mind, you know."

"Huh," Adie said, nodding, trying not to laugh. "Okay. What am I thinking right now?"

"Why the hell's this pop junkie flirting with me when I'm holding him hostage?" Sawyer suggested bitterly.

"Maybe Charlie's right?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"I'm thinking…" She stopped for dramatic effect. "I'm thirsty. Be right back."

Kate rolled her eyes as Adie left. "See, Charlie? Nothing's changed."

But Adie hadn't ever been so light and humorous, and Charlie could tell she was definitely changing. He was bringing a new side out of her, and he hoped it was enough to change her ways.

**-The Beach-**

"I'm going after them," Locke said. There was a crowd without Jack, and some of them looked interested, but no one said anything.

"You're serious?" Sun finally asked with a mixture of relief and angst. She quickly translated for Jin, who also looked surprised.

"Yes," Locke replied. "I have my own stash of three guns that Sawyer never took, so two of you are welcome to join me, if you have the nerve to stand up to Jack."

Everyone looked nervous and anxious. A few murmurs were heard, but as he had expected, no one had the nerve to say anything.

Finally someone spoke up—a younger man, probably only twenty or twenty-one. "Uh, no one ever really cared, but I was in the army for a year," he said nervously. "I never saw battle, but I learned everything. We learned how to bear guns."

"Are you saying you want to come?" Locke asked bluntly.

He shrugged. "I guess. I mean, Jack seems to be a good leader, but this isn't something he can just decide on his own."

Locke smiled in approval. "I'm glad you feel that way. What's your name?"

"Trent," he replied shakily. "Trent Adams."

"Okay, Trent," Locke said, nodding. "Anyone else like to come?"

After a second, everyone heard soft Korean mumblings. Finally Sun spoke.

"Jin would like to go," she said. Her voice was sad and rugged, but she knew that after everything that had happened, the best thing she could do was let him. She wanted to go herself, but with a growing child in her, she wouldn't let herself.

"Really?" Locke asked, not looking at all prejudiced and actually excited. "Forgive me, but he hasn't seemed to care much so far."

More Korean mutters were heard, and Sun spoke again. "He doesn't. He lets you people do what you want for the most part, and he does not interfere. But he says Sawyer would do the same for him." Her English was accented, but she spoke it perfectly.

Locke smiled. "That's the spirit. Well, I'm out of guns, so unless you want to smooth-talk Jack into it…"

"Smooth-talk me into what?" Jack asked as he walked over to them. Ana Lucia wasn't with him now, but he seemed like he'd just been going over something important with her.

No one said anything.

"What's going on, John?" Jack demanded.

"I'm leading a search party into the jungle," Locke finally said. "Only three people including myself. We're going to try to rescue our friends."

Jack looked appalled and, more importantly, shocked. "John, I already said—"

"No one elected you," Trent interrupted. "Look, Jack, I respect you, and I admit we need you. You're a great doctor, and for the most part a good leader. But the three of us want our friends back, and that's our choice, not yours."

Jack stared at him for a second before raising his hands in defeat. "Fine. Go. But I'm not giving you the guns, and neither is Ana, so you'll be defenseless."

"Taken care of," Locke said shortly.

Jin said something to Sun, and she asked, "When are you leaving?"

Locke smiled. "Now."

He led the two others to his tent (the one he had put up near Claire's), where he handed each of them a gun. He loaded one himself, and they began their march into the jungle.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"Is your thirst quenched?" Charlie asked energetically when she returned.

"Sure," she said awkwardly.

"Something tells me you haven't seen the Gatorade commercials," he said in disappointment. "That's okay—all in good time, my dear. All you have to do is untie me, and you'll see all the commercials you want."

She laughed. "So you've sunken to bribery? That's an all-time low."

"Get a room," Sawyer whined, but Kate found everything amusing.

"I have a question," Charlie said. "What if someone comes to look for us?"

Sawyer snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious," Charlie said. "What if someone comes to look for us, despite what Jack ordered, which was probably against that? Are you just going to kidnap them and then kidnap all of us until your hatch is lined with crash survivors?"

"We _have _needed some new decorations," Adie joked, but she could tell none of them were in the mood. She shrugged instead. "I don't know," she finally said. "I mean, they don't really tell me what's going on. They just tell me what to do, and I do it."

"See?" Charlie asked. "_See_? If you joined us, the noble crashers, you would be in on everything."

"Liar," Sawyer muttered. "Doc don't tell us anything anymore."

Charlie scowled at him and changed the subject. "Do you guys have a record player here?" he asked hopefully. "Because we do, but it's mostly just classical stuff—you know good if you want to play piano, but not if you're suffering piano withdrawals."

"You sure that's not just the heroin?" Kate teased. Charlie scowled at her, too.

"I do," Adie said, "but they don't know it. I hide the records and the player behind the cereal no one eats. But we can't use it."

"Then why do you have it?" Sawyer snapped.

She shrugged. "For whenever I'm alone."

"Which is…?" Charlie asked.

She sighed. "Now, I guess." And she went out to get it.

**-The Beach-**

"_What_?" Ana Lucia demanded. "They did _what_?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "And I think we should follow them. I mean, I don't know what other choice we have. Do you?"

She gulped. She didn't want to go back on her word, and she didn't want to have to go out there again, but she honestly didn't want John, Jin, or whoever that other guy was to die. "Okay," she sighed, "we will. But just us. And you should _properly _put Sayid in charge. Everyone listens to you."

He sensed a bit of irritation in that sentence, but he ignored it. He told Sayid the plan. He was mortified at the thought of all that trouble gain, but he agreed nonetheless. Ana Lucia and Jack grabbed their guns, loaded them, and set foot into the jungle.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"Adie! What the hell is this?"

Adie's head shot up when she saw her supervisor and almost, slight friend, Peter, walk in. His eyes were squinted in annoyance at the loud music coming from the record player, an old eighties song he'd never heard of but Charlie was nodding away to.

"Uh, sorry, sir," Adie mumbled, rushing to turn it off. "I just figured they could use some music to loosen them up."

"You're slacking off," he countered. "Get rid of that thing. And get out here—they'll be fine. We have a worse problem on our hands."

"What is it?" she asked, looking worried. Charlie, Kate, and Sawyer also listened intently.

"It's… their… their people," he said urgently and almost inaudibly. "I don't know! Just get your ass out there!"

He left, and Adie started to follow. Before she reached the door, however, Charlie spoke.

"That's your family, huh?"

But before she could reply, a piercing sound was heard. It was all too familiar to them at this point: a gun shot.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Bum, bum, bum! Sorry to leave such a cliffie, but CH is taking it from here, so it'll be worth the wait! Hope you enjoyed, and R&R!_

**Review Responses for Chapter 9 (by CharliesHoodie): **

**jimmy-barnes-13:** Thank you! And thank you for faithfully reviewing! It means a lot.

**Xlostangelx:** Thanks! I'm glad you're liking it. And thanks for reviewing!

We love reviews, guys. Really. We're bloody fanatics. :-)


	11. Close I've Come

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Close I've Come-

_By CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: Gasp! Chapter 10 was wonderful! _

_A/N (by Kiss): Sorry about the wait. I'm the one who posts our things, and sorry to keep you waiting—I can be a spaz—but check at the bottom to see how to get your chapters sooner, eh?_

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Adie shrieked slightly, even though the shot was obviously not as close as it seemed. Charlie, Sawyer and Kate jumped, but Peter stood still.

"What's going on?" Adie asked, trembling slightly.

Just then, Daniel came in.

"They shot at one of us, but they missed. Get her out there now."

This was whispered into Peter's ear, and only Adie heard it. Her face paled, and she took a step back. "What?"

"What's going on!" Charlie demanded urgently.

He was ignored as Peter grabbed Adie's arm and led her out through the door and into the thick jungle, toward a destination she didn't know.

"Peter!" She cried, stumbling along after him. "What's happening?"

"John, Jin, and Trent are here. They have guns, and they're going to try to take Charlie, Kate and Sawyer," he explained briskly. "You have to go out there, and talk to them and make them leave. They wouldn't hurt you – you're a girl."

Adie knew there wasn't much she could do now. She had to listen to them. Her face fell at the realization that Charlie was right.

**-The Jungle-**

Trent was holding his gun out in front of him shakily. "Did I hit him?" he asked Locke uneasily.

"No," Locke said, his face creased with worry. "He ran away just as you were firing, but the rest of them are sure to have heard it."

Jin looked confused without Sun being there to translate. He looked at Locke helplessly, but Locke said nothing to him.

"We should go," Trent said, slowly lowering his gun. "Or else they'll send more people out."

But Locke didn't look ready to go at all. "They still have our friends," he protested, starting on again.

"John!" Jin said, his voice heavily accented as he grabbed Locke's arm. He didn't know much of what was happening, but he knew that something was wrong and they could get hurt.

Locke shrugged him off. "Sawyer, Charlie and Kate," Locke told Jin. "We have to still try and get them. From the Others."

Jin processed this a moment and nodded, unsure. It was more him trying to agree than _actually_ agreeing.

Trent still wouldn't budge.

"But what if-"

There was another rustle in the trees and a small figure suddenly flew out from the trees. Trent shot quickly at the figure and the body collapsed and fell limp on the jungle floor.

**-The Jungle-**

Ana was sweating horribly from the dense jungle, even though she was wearing a tank top and her hair was pulled up. She was still wearing jeans, which was best in the thick jungle brush.

Jack was obviously hot, too. But he wouldn't let it show. And neither would Ana. They'd just shoot each other encouraging half smiles every once in a while and continue on.

"How far do you think Locke got?" Ana finally asked, collapsing down onto a rock in a clearing. Jack sat down on the ground, wiping his brow.

"I don't know. I'm just following his tracks the best I can, but I'm not much of a tracker."

"That's right. You're a damn spinal surgeon," Ana said with a slight smile. "But I think we're going the right way."

"That's right. You would know. You're a damn police officer," Jack said with a tired laugh. "The people who gave me way too many tickets for insignificant things."

Ana smiled again. "Well, I never liked those check ups much, either."

They smiled at each other briefly before Jack stood up.

"Come on, we can't sit around too long."

Ana nodded in agreement and followed him back into the deep jungle.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Charlie was working hard to undo his bounds, but he knew that it was no use. He had been watching Sawyer secretly picking away at the thick rope, but there was nothing they could really do.

"What do you thinks going on?" Charlie asked Kate and Sawyer. No one was watching them. It seemed everyone was fixed upon what was going on outside around the Others' 'property.'

Charlie's face creased with worry. What were they doing with Adie? Would she be ok? He felt sick to his stomach as he thought about the gun shot, Adie's scared face, and then Peter forcing her out.

"I don't know," Kate finally spoke up. "But I really don't think they'd do anything to really harm one of them."

Charlie nodded slightly, but he really wasn't too sure now.

**-The Jungle-**

Locke, Trent and Jin were sprinting through the jungle, clasping their guns to their sides. Jin was yelling at Locke and Trent in Korean, but they ignored him. Trent hadn't seen who or what he shot, neither could Jin, but Locke had gotten a pretty good look.

His face was crumbled in concern as he stopped his group and sat down where he was, breathing hard. Trent looked almost scared of Locke and what he would say.

"I-I-" Trent started.

Locke shook his head. "Don't. I don't think they know where we are now, but be ready to run if we need to."

Jin started yelling again breathlessly, but Locke signaled him to be quiet and Jin sat down, looking around warily.

Locke made a decision right then. Jack couldn't know about this. If he wanted to be on the same level as Jack and be just as involved as he was, he wasn't going to let Jack know that he was in control of a group that had shot someone who probably shouldn't have been there in the first place.

* * *

Jack and Ana were stopped again for a quick water break. Ana perched herself on a tree stump, which actually wasn't very unusual. Both Jack and Ana knew how it had gotten there.

"I see the monster left its mark," Jack said, gesturing to where she was sitting as he sipped water out of his bottle.

Ana grinned slightly and guzzled down most of her water. "So, you're a doctor."

"Obviously," Jack said with a slight shrug. "I mean, who else would everyone name their leader." It wasn't a proud statement, or a question.

Ana swatted a mosquito on the back of her neck and stood. She looked at him knowingly. "I'm thinking there's a lot more to you than people see. They see a hero, someone with answers." She paused. "I don't see that."

"Well, Ana Lucia, I don't know if that's a compliment…or not," he raised an eyebrow at her and began to start off again.

Ana didn't follow. "Wait. What's your father's name?"

"Christen Shephard," Jack answered, a little edge to his voice. He turned back around. "Why?"

Ana was smiling. "I know him. I mean, I knew your last name was Shephard and so is his…but I never thought you were related."

Jack looked surprised, but didn't show it through words. "Knew. You knew him. He's dead."

"…Oh." She didn't know what else to say. "So that's your deep secret here, huh? You had daddy issues."

Jack bit his lip. "Yeah. Didn't you? Doesn't everyone?"

Ana shook her head. "I had mom issues. We were both officers. Working together with family…just doesn't mix."

"Couldn't agree more," Jack said with a slightly amazed smile.

**-The Beach-**

Hurley felt even more awkward around Libby now.

He had told her he was sane now, but she still seemed distant and thoughtful, and he couldn't help but be paranoid about it.

She was sitting outside her tent reading a book from Sawyer's tent that she had taken to keep herself occupied. Hurley didn't know it, but she was hardly paying attention to the words she was reading. Too much stuff was going through her head.

"Hey," he said quietly, sitting next to her and letting out a slight grunt as he lowered himself into the sand. Immediately, Libby stiffened and her eyes fixed on the page she was on.

"Dude," Hurley said, noticing right away. "I'm not going to kill you or something! I'm not crazy!"

"Hurley…" Libby said, setting her book down. "I know. I know you're not crazy. I've just got a lot to think about right now. About us."

"Yeah," Hurley said, hurt. "You're debating on whether or not you should run away screaming every time you see me and cut the polite stuff."

Libby shook her head slightly, her eyes welling up. Ignoring Hurley, she stood up and went into her tent quickly.

**-The Jungle-**

Jack pushed back a few branches and vines, revealing Locke, Jin and Trent standing in a small clearing. Locke was gripping his gun, but eased up when he saw Jack.

"Locke!" Jack said, going up to him with Ana following behind. "Come on, we're going back."

"Yes, Jack, we are," Locke agreed, catching Jack off guard. Ana looked over at Locke, and then at Jack.

"What happened?" Jack automatically asked, staring at Locke suspiciously. He looked at Jin, who looked unsettled, and then at Trent who was staring off the opposite direction. Jack's eyes traveled down Trent's body to his boots.

Splattered with a dark red liquid.

"What happened!" Jack screamed, refraining himself from jumping on Locke like he had Boone's funeral. "You think you're going to lie anymore, well you're not, John! Tell me what the hell happened!" He could feel his heart racing and pumping inside his chest. Ana grabbed his arm in one strong grip.

Locke knew Jack was right. But he hated to admit it. He always hated to admit it. But he wasn't going to get away with lying about this.

"Trent…he accidentally shot one of them. It was a girl."

**-LOST-**

_A/N: First off, let me say that I am not Jack/Ana, nor am I a big fan of Jack or Ana. Both Jack and Ana are two characters I don't really care for, especially Ana. I know a lot of people hate the Jana ship, or just Ana all together. But these two have a relationship for a very certain reason. I'm not going to go give away all the ships, because there's so much to this story, I think you'll all be satisfied. Even if you can't stand the Jana fluff because you're all Jateish, keep reading anyway. There are going to be reasons why people are coupled with certain people, so I suggest having an open mind and understanding why certain characters are with other certain characters. I think you'll like the outcome._

**Reviews for Chapter 10 (by kissbangx3):**

**xlostangelx: **Haha, sorry to disappoint you, but no one died then. This time, though, don't be so sure… Anyway, I'd love to read your story when I get a chance. Whose penname is it under?

**jimmy-barnes-13: **Yay! Thanks for all the praise, and we're still dedicating one of our later chapters to you.

**Ernil i Pheriannath: **That's what's going on! Unfortunately there's another cliffie… well, thanks for reviewing again!

* * *

_Thanks, everyone! We love reviews!_

**Okay, if we get more than three reviews this time, we'll update in 3 days instead of 5! How 'bout it?**

(We're desperate, I know. Sorry.)

THANK YOU!


	12. After the Fall

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

-After the Fall-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Sorry about the (millionth) cliffie, but hey, we gotta keep you on edge. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter like I did, and I hope you enjoy this one too! And sorry for the delay on the update. I know I promised you yesterday, but does today work?_

**-The Jungle-**

"Jack, please," Locke said desperately. It was insulting and infuriating for him to be begging Jack, but he didn't have another option. "We came all the way here. You have guns, too. Help us get them back."

"It's not worth it," Jack said, shaking his head. They had already walked a safe distance away from the Others' camp, but it wasn't too late to turn around.

"Oh, really?" Trent asked. Back at the beach, he'd been too scared to confront Jack, but now he just looked sick of him. "Our friends, who've already had to endure so much, aren't worth it? Because that seems pretty selfish to me."

Jack looked strained, and despite his immense anger, Locke felt a wave of pity for their unelected leader. Jack was just trying to keep people safe, and they weren't making it easy for him. "Look," Jack said a little more quietly, "do you think I want to leave them there? After everything I've been through with Kate and Charlie—even Sawyer—how could you think I want them to die?"

Trent didn't say anything. Jin looked like he was struggling to keep up, and Locke didn't know what to say, either.

"So why don't you go?" Trent asked. "Why don't we all go? If you're so adamant about them living, and all."

"Because," Jack said. "If it was just me, maybe. But there are five of us, okay? If we all get caught, that's eight people in their hatch. That's eight people who could be helping the rest of us survive. That's why it's not worth it."

"So let one or two of us go," Trent said eagerly, obviously not getting the message.

Locke expected Jack to argue or even glare at him, but he looked too tired. Instead he turned and walked in the direction of the beach. Ana, carefully avoiding their eyes, followed. Jin turned his head from them to the Others' camp, not making a single move. Finally Locke followed Jack. At this so did Trent and, with a wavering glance at the place where he could rescue his old friend, Jin followed.

**-The Others' Campgrounds-**

"Adie!" Peter shouted, looking around frantically. "Adie, say something!"

"Pete." Another Other searching for Adie was with him, and he looked tired. "She's not going to talk."

Peter's face was hard. He was much older than Adie and had never felt any romantic feelings toward her, but he had taken her under his wing when she was younger, and now he was worrying for her life. He'd been giving her way too many orders recently, and even Henry had questioned him about it. _You need to be less tough on Adie, _he would say. _She's a special girl; we can't have her turning against us._

Well, he couldn't have her dying on them, either, he thought fiercely. He picked up to a run as he searched desperately for her. Finally he found her, sprawled out near the trees, writhing in pain but not able to stand. A bullet had gone through her cargo pants and was wedged in her upper leg, blood pouring from the wound.

"God," muttered the other, John, as he ran over to Adie. "Adie. Look at me. What happened?"

Peter held back, not able to move. He was thanking whoever was out there that it hadn't pierced her head or heart, but still, they had abandoned the medical hatch. They didn't have a doctor like Jack here, and he wasn't sure she was going to make it.

"They didn't mean to," she managed, her eyes squeezed shut and her dark hair mangled around her, spilling onto the ground. There was blood streaked in it, as well as on her hands and face. Obviously the fall had involved rocks that hadn't been too kind to her, either.

It was Adie's words that struck Peter. _They didn't mean to. _How could she be defending them when they had just tried to kill her? She was supposed to be on their side, and yet she seemed to open up more to the survivors than her own family.

_You're not her family, _he reminded himself sadly. _You're using her. And some day she'll realize it._

**-The Beach-**

Hurley was, in short, exhausted. He didn't understand what was going on with Libby. Everything pointed to him having gone to the psych ward, but she really seemed okay with that. So what else could it be?

He'd tried approaching her, and he hadn't had very effective results. He bit his lip, trying to think of some way to at least get her attention, and he decided on asking Sayid.

"Yes, Hurley?" Sayid asked politely as Hurley bounded up to him.

"Uh," Hurley mumbled, "I was wondering if you could, like… give me some girl advice?"

Sayid raised his eyebrows. He obviously had more important things to do as the substitute leader figure, but he genuinely liked Hurley, so he decided to give him a piece of advice. "Hurley, I cannot begin to explain to you the way women work," he said. "My only advice is for you to let her cool off. If she really likes you, she will miss you enough to approach you."

_Cold, hard truth, huh? _Hurley thought with a taste of bitterness. He knew Sayid was right, but he also felt fairly certain that she _didn't _like him so much. Their friendship had been fun, but maybe she just got tired of being the girl who hung out with the fat guy.

"Look, man, that's just not going to work for me," he finally said. "You don't have to give me advice—you can let me make a fool out of myself—but I think a good friend would give me whatever he had." Hurley hoped it would work.

It did. "All right," Sayid said, "there may be a few things I could come up with." He looked annoyed, but he clearly did want to help his friend.

"Thanks," Hurley said, beaming. "So, what've you got?"

"Do you and Libby have any personal things together?" Sayid asked unclearly. "I mean, for example, an inside joke or a common hangout."

Hurley considered it. "We both like golf," he suggested hopefully.

**-Outside the Others' Hatch-**

"What're we going to tell them?" John asked Peter urgently. "What if she screams? Aren't they going to hear her? We can't have them see us weak…"

"We'll go through the back," Peter said with a sigh, "and we'll make up a lie for them. Just hurry!"

The two partners, both shaking slightly under the weight of Adie (she was thin, but still a fully grown woman), circled around to their hatch's back door. Once inside, they brought her into a side room where the prisoners wouldn't see her. They did, however, hear someone enter.

"What's going on?" Charlie shouted. "Who was shot?"

"It's no use," Kate said sadly. "They're not going to tell us—"

"SHUT UP!" Peter growled, stepping momentarily into their room. "We'll tell you what's going on in a minute, as long as none of you say a word." He reentered the room John and Adie were in.

"What was that?" John asked in concern. "You're really going to tell them? You know Henry hates it when we go back on our words."

"No, I've got a plan," Peter said slowly. "I'm going to tell them a false truth."

"He doesn't like lying much, either," John muttered. A few other people had rushed into the room, including their best (though not very good) doctors, and were beginning to operate on Adie, who had almost fallen unconscious.

"He'll like this," Peter said simply, and he walked back into the main room.

**

* * *

**

"So?" Charlie asked urgently. Peter blinked, and Charlie continued. "_So_?"

"So," Peter said, "Adie has been removed from your post."

Kate and Sawyer didn't look very interested; Charlie, on the other hand, looked furious. "What? Why? What'd she, not shoot someone?"

Peter continued staring at him, masking his sad face for a hard one. That was the Others' uniform according to Henry: jungle attire, tough attitude, and a hard, unreadable face.

"I should've figured you wouldn't tell me," Charlie muttered, trying the age-old reverse psychology. "You _are _an Other, after all."

Peter took the bait instantly, since he didn't really care about opening up with a lie. "If you must know," he said while trying to sound disappointed, "she went against our orders. She _did _shoot someone."

Kate shot up from a slouch to amazing posture in an instant. Sawyer was still slouching and bored, but his electric blue eyes did raise in interest, though covered by his hair. Charlie didn't do anything but shake his head.

"No," he said slowly, telling himself more than them. "No, she wouldn't do that. You're the killers, not her."

"I'm sorry if you had some kind of infatuation with her, Charlie, but Adie is one of the coldest and empty-hearted members we have. She's our actress; she loves putting on a show. I'm sorry if she did it to you, but the fact is, she's not the kind of person she seemed like."

Charlie continued shaking his head, giving Kate a chance to interrogate him. "Who?" she demanded. "Who'd she shoot? Who came looking for us?"

"Kate, you can't possibly—!" Charlie nearly shouted, looking far beyond distraught but too confused to cry. "That's insane! You knew Adie! She didn't have a murderous bone in her body!"

Kate didn't say anything. Neither did Peter.

"But… she was reading that book… she looked touched by it… how could she possibly…?" He had gotten to the point where forming a sentence seemed too difficult.

Peter laughed. "That book of stories?" he asked knowingly. "I can't believe she still uses that. It's ancient."

"Wha…?"

"That's her favorite cover," he explained. "That book. Have you ever read between the margins? She loves making fun of those things."

Charlie was now completely incapable of speech. His eyes were dark and downcast as he considered the slight possibility of this being true. It made sense in a way. _Really, who ever reads the same book over and over again? And why had she seemed so good and yet always sided with us? She was my friend, I liked her… loved her, even, some day, and yet he's saying she's evil, and I'm not dismissing the possibility…_

"_Who_?" Kate asked, long and slow.

Peter considered his options. He'd already affected Charlie hugely, and despite the cruelty, it had been fun for him. Charlie had killed Ethan, and besides that, Peter didn't want Adie having feelings for one of the survivors. Having Charlie turn against her would prevent that.

"Jack," he finally said, turning back to look at Kate. Her eyes widened in horror, to his satisfaction. Sure, she hadn't killed Ethan, but she'd been a murderer in her past life. How dare she bring such a past to their island, a sacred and beautiful place?

_Jack, _Kate thought, swallowing a choking, hard swallow. _Jack. What the hell are we going to do without him? _She raised her eyebrows at her own thoughts. _And what am _I _going to do without him? _she added quickly, but it wasn't the same. It almost felt forced, as if she was making herself cling to him. Despite the fact that he might have died, despite the terror eating at her heart for the man she'd passionately kissed once before, the same thought was nagging at her: _He left us. He abandoned us, and me. How could he do it? _He'd come back for her, but weeks later… was it really the same?

"What, no sad news for me?" Sawyer asked, glancing up at Peter with a challenging look in his eyes. "'Cause honestly, I knew Little Miss Innocent was evil, and frankly, Doc's death don't affect me much."

"Okay," Peter said, nodding. "Well, I know what you did with Ana, and so do all of us. We find you pretty appalling."

A look of panic streaked across his face as he plead that Peter wouldn't say more, but it was quickly replaced with a calm smirk. Sure, he didn't want Kate knowing, but Peter wasn't going to say it. And why should Sawyer care what the Others knew or didn't know? "Oh, so you're stalkers," he said, nodding. "So what's new?"

Peter didn't look discouraged. "Oh, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about your parents, James," he said bitterly. "That Sawyer must've been a hell of a bad guy."

Sawyer stared at him, seething, too fierce to speak and yet too fierce not to. He let out a furious yell full of rage and hatred. How dare this stranger mention his family, call him James, or insult him that purely? The only bad guy here was Peter, and yet all he felt was pain towards himself.

Peter looked proud as he turned to leave. _How couldn't I? _he thought without a bit of guilt. _He slept with Ana Lucia. She may have freed Henry, but she'd always be the girl who killed Goodwin._

**-The Jungle-**

Ana Lucia had a lot to think over, and she couldn't do it with them bickering so much. She'd been hoping that this wouldn't happen—they wouldn't get into a war—but it had, and basically, they were. This wouldn't usually be a problem, since Ana Lucia didn't mind gun-to-gun combat. She'd gotten into the police business for the guns, the lies, and the day-to-day action. This wasn't any different.

But what if they faced Henry? What would he say? Would he give her away, or return the favor by leaving them alone? No, he hadn't done that; he'd already taken four of them, even if Jack was returned.

She hadn't meant to let him go. She'd meant to kill him. But she couldn't do it, and there wasn't anyone else there to do if for her. She didn't think she'd be able to live with him there every day, so her only options were to kill him or let him go. She couldn't kill him, so she'd had to…

"Ana?" Jack asked. "Everything okay?"

She shook out of her jolt to find Jack and Locke staring in concern at her. "Yeah," she said quickly, nodding with a mechanical smile. "What happened to the argument?"

"What always happens to our arguments?" Locke asked with a hint of anger and a hint of humor. "Jack won. Or thought he did."

Jack ignored him. "We're going back," he told her. "To the beach." He stepped a little closer to her and asked more quietly, "You sure you're okay?"

_Poor Jack, _she thought sadly. He thought he had all the answers, but he didn't even know much about the people he led. Did he really think she was some kind of angelic, good-hearted police officer? If only he knew about Henry—or even about his own family.

**-Flashback, About 4 Months Ago-**

Her hands and eyes were on the wheel, but it wasn't moving. Her foot was placed readily on the gas pedal, but it wasn't pressing. The keys were in the ignition, waiting for her to make a move, but she wasn't sure if she could.

Christian had already left, though she wasn't sure what he was going to do. She didn't really care any more—Christian hadn't been a person she'd admired; he'd only been a person she worked with. Associates were rarely anything better.

It was the blond girl that she couldn't get her head around. Why would Christian want Ana to be his bodyguard when he was just going to talk to an old family friend? That was what it had sounded like, from her point of view: Christian was talking to his sister-in-law, or possibly even an ex-wife. Still, it was just a family feud. Had he been expecting her to do something dangerous? Then again, if he was, wouldn't he have told Ana to come with him instead of wait in the car?

Finally she stepped on the gas pedal. She knew where she was headed, even if she wouldn't admit to it. Her flight wasn't until that night, so she had a while before she'd start worrying about it.

She pulled up to the same house, took a deep breath, and walked up to the front door. She didn't know what she was doing there, but after flying all the way to Sydney, she wanted to know why.

"Do I know you?" asked the opener rudely. She was fairly good-looking, though she was middle-aged and looked tired. She had lifeless blonde hair and dark eyes, and she looked like she'd been through a lot.

"Um, no," Ana Lucia said, "but I really wanted to…" Her mind flashed to her police badge, but then she remembered she didn't have it any more; she'd have to resort to begging. "I wanted to talk to you about Christian Shephard," she said slowly.

"He can't help," the woman said immediately. "If you're coming to help him, I don't care. He doesn't have anything to do with the baby, anyway, and it was Sarah's choice, not mine. He's not going to help raise Jack."

"Jack?" Ana Lucia asked unclearly.

The woman blinked at her. "Didn't you say you knew Christian?"

"Distantly, you could say," was her reply. "I… I worked for him for a while. It's just that I really felt this tug to know what was going on. And if there's anything I can help with—legal or otherwise—I'm an ex-cop and I know police officers."

The woman nodded. "Actually, maybe you could. I wanted to get a restraining order from Christian. Hopefully for two people, but if not for Sarah, then at least for the baby."

"Could you clear that up a little?" Ana Lucia asked, shaking her head.

"Yes, certainly," she mumbled, looking nervous. "But please don't tell anyone about this. Christian shouldn't know. I can't believe I ever told him. Just as long as you're sure you can manage to get a restraining order…"

"I'll do my best, ma'am," Ana reassured her.

"Okay, then you should know that Sarah is my daughter. She was married to Christian's son, Jack, for a few years, but it wasn't working well at all… Jack had father issues, he worked all the time, and he was stressed. Just when Sarah was making up her mind to deal with the marriage, she found out. That's why I can't deal with the order myself, Officer, because Sarah won't go near legal files again. They scarred her life. That divorce did it."

"Sorry, but she found out what, exactly?"

The woman sighed. "That she was pregnant with Jack Junior."

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Huge, I know. Plus I slightly cringe at the thought of a Jack Junior, no offense to anyone who doesn't. But there are a lot of mysteries on Lost, and these are our inputs on what we think happened in Libby's, Ana's, Jack's, and the Others' pasts. We might use additional flashbacks for other characters later on. CharliesHoodie's next!_

_PS: YAY for the season premiere! (Which I didn't think was that good… but I love Lost to death so it's okay.) Anyway, I know our Ana/Jack histories don't really fit the show any more (neither do a lot of things), but bear with us anyway. And if you didn't see it, I hope I didn't spoil anything._

_kiss!_

**ALSO: Since I wanted to get this out quickly, we'll put in this chapter and next chapter's responses in ch13. Thanks so much for the additional reviews, keep reviewing and maybe it'll be 4 days instead of 5 again!**


	13. Wicked Game

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Wicked Game-

_By CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: I loved the last chapter! Poor Charlie and Adie. Poor Kate! She just doesn't know who she wants. And of course, poor Hurley._

* * *

"Remember that time when we were going to have a picnic, then we kinda didn't because Henry got away?"

"Yes."

"And remember the time we were going to go golfing, but then Ana wouldn't let us?"

Libby laughed slightly. "Yes, I do remember."

"Well, I was kinda hoping we could do both of those things today. At like…the same time?" Hurley offered hopefully.

Libby forced a smile. She was kind of reluctant to do anything with Hurley, but she was very aware of how that made him feel. Like she didn't enjoy being with him, when in truth, she really, really did.

"Well?" Hurley said, expecting an answer.

Libby snapped back into reality. "Yeah, ok," she said without really thinking. If she did just this one thing with him, it would satisfy him for a while, and that would give her time later to figure things out about herself. She had never gotten to think much about herself or anything else in the institution. She felt like she was someone else when she was there, and she was still getting used to the "sane" Libby. But the "insane" Libby had been sane all along.

**-Flashback, 8 Years Ago-**

"So, what're you in here for?" A man sharing her lunch table asked. He had always sat there across from her, but never said a word to her. She liked him being there, because it made her feel not so alone. Mentally, she was. But with someone there, it was easier on her. She just wasn't prepared to talk to him, or answer that sort of question.

She had been told she didn't have to release that information, so she knew she wasn't going to. She felt like telling him it was her business, but it was hard to deal with the people at the asylum. They could pester someone to no end, and she didn't want to deal with that right now. She had enough going on.

"I caused a car accident and killed a couple and their baby girl. Never could get over it, so they said my mind wasn't stable enough."

The man only nodded as if the information was nothing, as if that incident, if it were true, was not a big deal. Libby looked down at the pile of corn on her plate and sighed, shifting it around with her fork. She didn't mind so much that it was a lie, because sooner or later, that man would forget all about it. She only hoped she could forget about the asylum once she was out.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

When Adie opened her eyes, no one was there.

There was an intense pain and a steady throbbing in the area where her leg and hip connected, and she winced, remembering instantly what had happened.

She touched the area gently with her fingertips and winced again, drawing her hand back. Her leg was wrapped in a tight, white bandage and an oversized pair or jeans replaced the green cargos she had been wearing.

She managed to throw her legs over the edge of the bed, ignoring the pain. She had to see Charlie. She had to talk to him. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell him, she only knew she needed to see him.

She had never felt like that before. What was that feeling called, anyway? She knew when you felt good being around someone, you liked them. And she also knew when that feeling turned more intense, when you felt like you couldn't be away from them for too long, that was called love.

Her heart was beating faster, but she couldn't tell if it was the pain that was causing her heart to race, or something else, something exciting.

She stood up shakily, quickly making up a story for Charlie and the others for why her leg was injured. She took a nasty fall on a patch of rocks. She didn't think they'd question that any further.

Once Adie was out of the bed, she then noticed Peter sleeping in a chair in the corner. He had obviously been going back and forth between her and the captives, and had dozed off. She'd quickly see Charlie, and then return to the room.

"Charlie!" she whispered, hardly containing her excitement as she limped into the room. Charlie looked up, but didn't look as thrilled. Adie's face fell, and she sat heavily on the sofa.

"What happened to your leg?" Charlie asked. His tone suggested the line was a nice opener to make it sound like there wasn't anything wrong before he completely blew up at her. She looked into his eyes nervously. Eyes never lied.

"I slipped in the jungle, and I fell on some sharp rocks," she answered, averting her eyes and waiting for him to ask her questions about the gunshots and his friends back on the beach. She already knew she was going to tell him the truth about that, and only leave out the part about Trent shooting her. She'd just tell him they were heading back to the beach after a little negotiating. Which wasn't completely a lie.

"Oh," Charlie replied, seemingly uninterested. Sawyer and Kate weren't looking directly at them, but listening, making the conversation even more awkward for Charlie and Adie.

"I need to tell you guys everything," Adie began, unable to wait for questions any longer.

"'Fraid we already know, sweetheart," Sawyer said, eyeballing her.

Adie blinked and looked over at Charlie who was staring at the ground. "So you already know about-"

"How you lied to us? How you led us on to think you were good, that you were different? Yes, we do." Charlie spoke up, an icy tone to his voice.

"What're you talking about?" Adie asked quietly, hurt. "Why do you think I did that?"

"Stop it, Adie," Kate warned. "We already know everything about you and who you really are."

"What!" Adie exclaimed. She had no idea what they were talking about. Had someone said something to them when she was unconscious? "What are you talking about!" She pleaded helplessly.

"We know what you did," Charlie said, hurt lining his voice as he seemed to contain feelings.

_What did I do? _Adie wanted to ask as she stared at him, dumbfounded. She couldn't think of anything she had done recently besides getting shot that would upset them so terribly, and she didn't think they knew about her getting shot, or else they would've asked questions about it. Unless they already knew about it. But really, what would be their argument? _Trent shot you, and we're mad at you because you got shot._ That didn't make much sense.

"Charlie," Adie whimpered, now fully staring into his eyes that looked just as hurt as she was. "Please, Charlie, tell me." A few tears were now running down her face slowly, and she harshly wiped them away.

"Nice little performance you've got going," Sawyer said, watching her as if he were a critic. "Back in the real world, this is what we call acting. Or lying, if you will. But I'm sure _you _know what I'm talking about."

Adie's face crumbled in distress and sadness. Sawyer was smirking; Kate had a neutral expression, but Charlie's face looked sad, and his eyes watery.

Adie met Charlie's eyes briefly, and they both shared a confused and sad look before Adie grabbed her book and darted out of the room.

Charlie's eyes fixed on the open page of the book as Adie fled from the room. It was _Annabel Lee,_ what else?

He looked down sadly, and a passage came to mind immediately.

The wind came out of the cloud by night, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

**-The Golf Course-**

"This is it!" Hurley announced proudly. He set down their backpack full of fruit and water for their picnic, and spread out a sheet of tarp on the grass.

"Wow," Libby said, impressed as she looked out over the course. "I'm sure everyone loved this…back when times were easier."

"Actually," Hurley said as he unloaded the golf bag, tossing the clubs on the ground. "We only had one real golf game before most everyone, like forgot about it. So I came back here a few times a week and put up some new holes, so now it's more like a course. We used to just have two."

"It's very nice, Hurley," Libby said, smiling at him and claiming a golf club for herself and a neon pink ball.

"Very professional," Hurley said with a smirk as he picked a standard white ball for himself. "I'm a very simple guy," he joked.

"I'd have to disagree," Libby said, twirling her club absently. Her mind was in an entire other place. She had decided that she'd tell Hurley while they were here, so they could be alone and discuss it together with no distractions. Now she wasn't so sure, so she knew she'd have to get it out of the way fast.

"Hurley? Can we have the picnic first? I'm starving." Without even getting a comment from Hurley, she tossed her club and ball down and sat on the tarp, legs folded under her. Hurley didn't protest, only sat down heavily on the tarp and dug through the backpack.

"Hurley, we really need to talk about something," Libby said uneasily.

"What?" Hurley asked, already slicing a mango for her. He stopped and looked at her nervously.

"You…you're always telling me the truth about things. Like about how you were in the mental institution. And then you said you were frustrated with people not telling the whole truth here. And I started feeling guilty, and that's why I was so distant."

Hurley bit his lip. "Are you saying there's something you haven't told me about that I should know?"

Libby was trying to look at him now, but it was hard. "Yes." Her voice trembled as she spoke, and her eyes lowered.

"Well, what is it?" Hurley asked nervously.

"I was in the institution too. With you." Hurley's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't look mad.

"That's where I've seen you, then," Hurley said. He wasn't smiling, but he looked as though he had found the missing piece to a huge puzzle.

"I was there because I was convicted of murdering my husband, David." At this, Hurley quickly stood up, brushing grass and dirt off his jeans. He was about to say something, but Libby cut him off.

"But I didn't, Hurley. I only pleaded guilty because it was either the institution, or life in prison. I didn't want that. I wanted to be the normal person that I was, and I knew that if I just stayed for a few years there, I would be able to be released once they saw that I wasn't dangerous."

Hurley looked a little calmer, but he was still obviously shaken.

"Why didn't you just tell me? I would've understood. You were put there for something you didn't do; I was put there for something I did do, something that was really affecting me. I had a real condition, and I still do! I was able to tell you that, and you weren't even able to tell me something that wasn't even true!"

"Hurley, it was hard for me. I didn't know what you would think!"

Hurley bit his lip. "I just thought that you trusted me enough to tell me something that I could completely understand. I trusted you enough with something I thought you'd freak out about."

Libby looked down. She had never known Hurley to be so serious. She had thought that things would work themselves out with him. She never thought of it like…like this.

"I've…got to go," Hurley said dryly, standing up and using his arms to push himself up off the tarp. He glanced at Libby nervously before gathering up the golf clubs and starting down the hills toward the beach.

"Hurley!" Libby called after him, standing up. But it was no use; he wasn't turning back.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Adie still hadn't gone back out to the main room with Charlie and the other captives. Peter still sat slumped in his chair and breathing heavily. She was lying down to rest her hip and leg.

Things just didn't seem normal.

What was she saying? Things weren't normal. It was like one of those cases out of a story. So many things needed to be said, but it was so hard to get them out when you didn't know what was the truth, what was a lie, and what didn't need to be mentioned at all. And you got so stressed out with those characters, and you wanted to reach into the pages, shake them and yell 'why don't you just tell her? There was a misunderstanding!'

Adie felt like that right now. Like the reader of a book that just got you going and going until you had to finish it, just to know how it ended for the characters.

She glanced over at Peter – still sleeping. She doubted he'd wake up anytime soon, so she had plenty of time to either think of what to do. Or not do anything at all.

**-The Others' Hatch, Main Room-**

Charlie was doing nothing. Not moving, not talking, not expressing any sort of feeling. Nothing.

Kate was talking to him quietly, reassuring him and telling him not to be so distressed over Adie. That she was just like the Others. She wasn't anyone different, she was exactly like them. After all, the Others had been known to play games with them just like she had.

But a part of Charlie told him it wasn't true. That she, Adie, couldn't be like that. Sweet little Adie with the book of literature, so touched by the words that wouldn't make much sense to anyone else. So thoughtful, and even funny at times. That wasn't acting. That was real.

But then another part of him told his heart he was just imagining things.

Kate turned away from Charlie to see Sawyer staring at her. She raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just listening in. It's kinda hard to not since we're in such close quarters," Sawyer smirked, a small twinkle in his blue eyes.

Kate smiled back slightly, and Sawyer looked slightly offended that she didn't have a better reaction to one of his quick-witted statements.

"What's wrong?" he asked, actual concern echoing in his voice.

Kate looked up, noticing this. "What? You think just because I don't laugh at you means I'm morbidly depressed?"

"No offense, Sweetcheeks, but you've been pretty distant since Dr. Jack left you for a beach full of paranoid people."

Kate glared at him slightly, but he was right. She had never quite gotten over that – that feeling that was still inside her from that day not too long ago. She wished things could've been differently. She didn't know how they could've been, but she really wished some things could have been prevented.

"Why do you care about him so much?" Sawyer asked when she didn't respond to what he said before. "He obviously doesn't care too much about you. Hell, he sees you just as anyone else on the beach. Maybe as an actual friend, hun, but not like anything you're thinking."

He immediately regretted it once he said it. He could see the pain and anger welling up in Kate's eyes when she looked at him. The look said that he had a point, but it also had a 'why would you say that?' feel to it.

"Why shouldn't I care about him?" Kate countered. "We've always looked out for each other since day one. There's no reason to stop now."

"Ever think maybe it's because he's a doctor? Because he needs help with being the only guy on the damn island who knows how to save people from dying? Ever think he picks you to help him out on little adventures because you're right by his side, following him around like a little puppy dog?"

Kate cringed slightly. She was more upset than mad. In a way, Sawyer could be right. But she didn't even want to think about all the things he said about Jack being true. There must have been something that proved there was something more. A light in her head immediately switched on.

"We kissed," Kate announced, meaning her and Jack.

"I know we did, Freckles," Sawyer said, a small smirk on his face. Kate's eyes darted to the ground nervously, and a small and brief blush lit up her smudged cheeks. Sawyer only smiled to himself.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Aw, so we've got some couple crisis going on! Triple couple crisis, actually. Though Sawyer and Kate seem to have a better grip than Chadie and Hubby. Hmm. But this story might take some unexpected turns! You never know! I love messing with you all._

_Anyway, **review, review, review.** Reviews are what get us going! They make us feel good and inspire us and make the story better! So send those in! We love you!_

_-Hoodie_

**Review Responses for Chapter 11 (by CharliesHoodie):**

**Ernil I pheriannath**: Someone's excited! lol. Don't worry, there will be more!

**Jimmy-Barnes-13**: Aw, thanks. We don't write as good as the real Lost people,

though. If only we could write with them...how fun. I'd rather act since I'm a

drama buff, but yeah. Thank's for the review!

**xlostangelx**: Jana means no Jate, yes! Well...of course there's going to be some

Jate ISSUES, so you'll see.

**winterbabyalways**: Well, keep reviewing then! So glad you like the Skate! Kiss

and I were all like "...I think people know it's Skate now so they aren't

reading it..." but you and a couple other people have proved us wrong! Go you!

Psht, who reads Jate anyway? Skate is hooootttt.

* * *

**Review Responses for Chapter 12 (by kissbangx3):**

**Mystery Island: **Sorry for making it confusing; I know Kate isn't passive, but the idea was that there wasn't a chance of escape anyway, and she was too tired to fight. We both (CH and I) love Charlie, so you'll still read a lot of that. Our idea about Jack was that he wanted to save the many instead of the few, whether it be Kate or not. Anyway, thanks for the praise and the review!

**jimmy-barnes-13: **Haha, I'm guessing you meant "Jack Junior?" I just thought that'd be a cool way to end it… the only important thing was that (to us) Sarah was pregnant. Anyway, again, thanks for the loyal reviews, and a later chapter will still be yours! (Er, dedicated, that is.)

**Ernil I Pheriannath: **Here's your more! Thanks again for the continuous reviews, they're our favorites!

**Time and Fate: **Yay, thanks! We love new reviewers.

* * *

**Phew. Thanks, everyone, for the reviews & support. We LOVE reviews, as we have made clear… anyway, 4+ reviews4 days, instead of 5 or 6, so keep leaving us love! (Or just praise… or constructive criticism… whatever is in your review.)**


	14. Confrontation

**Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own**

-Confrontation-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Yay, couple trouble! I personally think a story would be boring if people just got together and that was the end of it. That's why I like the twist in the Hubby relationship. Anyway, last chapter was great, and I hope this one is, too!_

Jack, Ana Lucia, Locke, Trent, and Jin arrived muddy, tired, and streaked with dirt. Locke left to find Claire and see if things were all right with Aaron, Jin left to find Sun and check on their unborn child, and Trent went straight into his tent to think things over. Before anyone could jump on Jack or Ana Lucia about what happened, Ana made a suggestion.

"Let's go back," she said. Jack looked alarmed, and she said quickly, "Not all the way. Into the jungle. I don't want to be bombarded by the press. You?"

He laughed lightly. "If you mean 'the survivors of a plane crash' when you say 'the press,' then no, I don't," he replied. "Let's go."

They U-turned and walked back into the jungle, strolling comfortably side by side. Ana Lucia had supplied guns for both of them from her stash (Sawyer's old one), and even though they were talking fairly easily, their minds were both riveted on their guns and the possibility of danger.

That factor started to leave as they got to talking. Ana Lucia didn't dare mention the blonde woman from half a year before, but the thought did flicker into her mind occasionally.

"What're we going to tell them?" Jack asked. Ana gave him a curious look, so he said with a grin, "The press."

She laughed. "Oh. I don't know. D'you think Locke or Trent told them what happened?"

Jack shook his head. "Locke likes being a leader," he said stiffly, "but he doesn't like communicating with the people. Trent's way shook up to say anything to anyone, and Jin might tell Sun, but we'll talk to her in private."

"Okay." Ana nodded. "So I guess that means, again, that we lie?"

Jack frowned. "Not as much," he finally said. "I know I should've been more honest before, but I still don't think we should tell them about shooting the girl. Let's just say we went after them and caught them before anything bad happened."

"They won't be very happy, she reminded him. "I mean, nothing good came out of this."

He shrugged. "No one expected anything else," he said simply. "We went to bring them back, not to find the captives." He shook his head. "This would all be so much easier if we still had Henry."

Ana stiffened. "You didn't get Michael or Walt back that way," she reminded him softly. "You wouldn't be able to get Kate or the others, either."

Jack wondered why she said Kate's name with a hint of distaste, but he didn't mention it. Instead he replied, "I know, but at least we'd have someone from the other side again."

Ana didn't dare to speak.

"We'll get everyone back," he said reassuringly, mistakenly thinking she wanted them to find Henry. "We will. Including Henry."

Her eyes fell downcast and she nodded and smiled, weaving deeper and deeper into her complicated web of lies.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

The talking had completely ceased. Charlie was in the worst position—his back was aching, as well as, cliché as it seemed, his heart.

It wasn't that he loved her, or even that he had feelings for her—not that he was denying it. It was that she had seemed like the most interesting, polite, innocent person he knew, despite her being an Other.

He knew it was all a cover, but some things just didn't add up—like, for example, Bryce Carolton. How could the offspring of a peace-loving rock king possibly be so evil? Adie knew she wasn't related to the Others by blood, so why should she feel the need to be like them? She was only in her mid-twenties, with an even younger spirit; that kind of age should still be unfixed, loyalties fluctuating and not completely decided.

Besides that, she'd seemed genuinely confused earlier. That could be a ploy, too, but…

He noticed that Kate was flashing him concerned looks about every five seconds. Annoyed and feeling the need for privacy, he feigned sleep. Even though he looked it, his mind and body were ages from sleep. They were reeling with debate and question.

**-The Beach-**

"We caught up to the original crew before they could do anything," Jack was saying loudly to the familiar crowd. "We brought them back here, and none of us are injured. I know it wasn't what some of you were hoping for, but at least no one else got hurt."

Everyone nodded and seemed pleased. Sayid felt appalled. How were they believing this load of lies? Trent looked like he'd seen a ghost, and Sun and Jin were muttering a mile a minute in Korean. Jack and Ana Lucia kept exchanging worried glances, and Locke, though still calm, looked a little stressed.

Sayid scanned his options. He was fairly liked by all of them, but he didn't know Trent, and he didn't dare face Ana Lucia or Jack. He hadn't shared many conversations with Locke, so he decided on Sun and Jin to find out what was really going on.

"Sun," he said when everyone broke apart. Jin looked up, too, but kindly. Sayid returned his glance with a smile. "May I talk to you?" he asked Sun.

She nodded. "Of course."

"Look," he said carefully, "I know that Jack is hiding something from us, and I know that if Jin was there, he'd tell you. I'd ask him, but last I checked, he did not speak Iraqi…"

Sun laughed lightly. Jin looked nervous and uncomfortable, and Sayid felt guilty, but he didn't know what else to do. "You can just tell him I'm here to talk about what happened," Sayid told Sun.

She muttered something in Korean. Jin glanced at Sayid for a second, nodded in apparent approval, and said something back to his wife. Sun looked glad.

"He thinks I should tell you," she explained. "When he went with John and Trent, they really didn't find anyone," she said. "But when Jack and Ana Lucia caught up to them, they did find someone, apparently on of these… Others."

Sayid didn't looked frightened at the name; he simply nodded, encouraging her to go on.

"Trent," she said slowly, "shot her."

"Her?" Sayid repeated. "He shot a woman?"

"He said she looked young," Sun explained. "Late twenties, perhaps?"

"Did she die?"

She shook her head. "They don't think so, but they left right after that. They aren't sure what happened to her."

He nodded. "All right. And is that everything?"

Sun muttered something else to Jin, and he nodded. She turned back to him and also nodded.

"Thank you," Sayid said honestly, and he turned away.

"Wait," Sun said. "Where are you going?"

He shrugged. "Is it not obvious? To confront Jack."

**-The Golf Course-**

Hurley hit the ball as hard as he could. It didn't go very far, and it didn't work very well, but it let out his frustration a little better. He was glad Libby told him the truth, and that she wasn't afraid of his past, but now he was starting to be afraid of hers. Sure, she _said _she didn't kill her husband, but that didn't necessarily mean she didn't.

What was he thinking? Libby wouldn't lie to him, would she?

He snorted at his own stupidity. Of course she would; she already had. She told him he didn't know her from anywhere, and every time he said he did, she shook it off. She had been keeping it from him, and he'd had the right to know.

"I'm sorry," said the familiar voice from behind him. "I'm so, so sorry."

He didn't dare to turn around. He didn't dare to look. What did it matter, her saying 'sorry?' It didn't change what had happened. It didn't change the fact that she lied, or the fact that she was a potential murderer, or the fact that she waited so long to tell him. It didn't change that long period of uneasiness, either, the period he definitely disliked.

"Libby," he said, finally turning to her, "did you kill your husband?"

He saw tears well up in her eyes, and he felt guilty for asking, but he didn't correct himself.

"No," she said sadly. "No."

But couldn't that be a lie, too? Hurley shook his head, keeping his eyes focused on the ground, and left.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Adie couldn't think straight. The pain coming from her leg was excruciating, but that mixed with the confusion with the prisoners was just too much. Why were they all suddenly so turned against her? Whatever they had heard, it couldn't have been the truth.

Had they possibly heard something about her past that they didn't approve of? She wasn't sure. There was only one thing she could think of that they wouldn't approve of, but as bad as it had been, it was also good.

**-Flashback-**

"Did she fight back? Did you sedate her? _What happened?_"

Adie sat quietly in the corner, clutching her book and pretending not to listen. But with all the bumbling confusion that was going on, how couldn't she? They were talking about something important, and she wanted to know what.

She'd lived with the Others for years, but she still didn't understand some of the things they did. They had taken her in, and for that she would be forever grateful and in their debt, and they said they worked for a "greater good." So why were they talking about sedating women and not letting them fight back? For good guys, her replacement family was definitely questionable.

"Danielle," Peter said loudly, "was not a problem."

He sounded strangely mechanical, not at all like the paternal figure Adie was used to. Finally deciding to speak to a familiar face, Adie got up and tugged on Peter's shirt. She wasn't a toddler any more, and she was getting mature, but she was a child, and needed to do things to get his attention.

"Yes, Adie?" he asked in a polite but bothered voice.

"Peter, what's going on?" she asked. "What'd you do to that woman? Danielle?"

Peter glanced down at her in consideration before saying, "We helped her child. The baby girl was going to die out there, so we took her in to raise her."

Adie fell wordless as she interpreted the news. It made sense, and it was very thoughtful of them, but… "What about the mother? Why didn't you help Danielle too?"

"We don't have enough vaccine for her," he explained. "Once you've been outside of our camp, you need a vaccine to survive."

Was that true? She'd never seen him take the vaccine, and he left the camp loads of times.

"Hey, Adie," he said, kneeling to look at her better. "Why don't you talk to her? Her name's Alex. She's only a newly born child, but I think she'd like to hear another child's voice."

Adie shrugged and followed wordlessly as Peter led her into the hatch she would later become very used to. Lying in a crib in the corner was a beautiful, dark-haired baby girl.

"I'll leave you two alone," Peter said, smiling. "You can pick her up if she wakes up. Just be careful, okay?"

Adie nodded, glad that he trusted her, and peered into the crib.

"Hi, Alex," she said softly. She looked around just in case, but she was pretty sure no one was there. "Okay, I have some questions. What's with the vaccine? Did they hurt your mom? And why are they so mysterious?"

The baby stirred.

Adie sighed, absentmindedly rocking the crib. It was wonderful of them to take in the baby, but why not the mother? She was bound to die, anyway, living out there in the jungle all alone.

Alex's eyes slowly opened, peering up intently at Adie. Adie smiled, glad for the wake up, and pulled her out of her crib. Alex didn't cry once.

From then on, Adie visited the crib every day until it became a play pen and then just the hatch. Adie had never been friends with Alex, exactly, but she'd felt a bond with the girl similar to her friendship with Molly, the girl with the situation like her own. But, despite their small age difference, Adie had raised Alex. Alex was the only one who had ever questioned the rules, and while it scared Adie, it also made her proud. Alex wasn't for the "greater good," but for the regular good, and Adie couldn't be more happy.

**-Present Day, the Others' Hatch-**

So whether or not the Others had taken Alex to save her, Adie had helped her become a beautiful, intelligent person. What was there to hate her so much over? Adie hadn't done anything bad before.

She sunk into a chair, her light eyes flickering to the book. It had so many memories of her life with the Others, but not any from her life with her parents. Sometimes she wished she had something from them, and other times she was glad not to. Now she just wished she had some way to be sure she was good, because with the captives questioning her so much, she was starting to question herself.

**-The Beach-**

"Jack," Sayid said calmly. Jack was facing away from him, saying something to Ana Lucia. Sayid had no wish to eavesdrop, so he stayed a good few feet away.

Jack turned, looking annoyed. "Sorry, Ana," he said. She nodded and left, giving Sayid a curious look. He ignored her and looked at Jack again.

"Why did you not tell us the truth?"

A look of nervousness flashed over Jack's dark eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean," Sayid said with a bit of edge, "why did you not tell us about Trent shooting the woman?"

Jack stiffened. "Who told you?"

Sayid shrugged. "That is not important. I think it is important, however, for you to tell everyone."

"I think I have a right to know," Jack said bitterly, "who told you."

"And I thought I had a right to know who shot whom," Sayid said, "but clearly we were both mistaken."

Jack clenched his jaw, but he knew he couldn't argue with that. "Okay," he said, "I'm sorry. If you want to tell everyone, you can. But it's just like a few months ago when we first found the transceiver—I'd tell them, but I want to let them keep their hope. You were fine with it back then."

Sayid said, in a soft and mild voice, "That is because, back then, they had hope to keep."

**-LOST-**

_A/N: I know, sad ending, but you have to admit after 3 or 4 months you'd probably give up hope, too. Anyway, sorry that it's a little shorter than usual, but I took a look at the outline for the next chapter and, in my opinion, it'll be awesome. You should all read and enjoy, and I hope you like! Then again, it's Hoodie, of course you'll like it. ;) Review please! We love reviews! They're happy and keep us going!_

**Review Responses for Chapter 13:**

**jimmy-barnes-13**: Aw, thank! You are such a great reviewer, you know that, right??

**Time and Fate**: Loving your penname. It's awesome. And yes, Charlie Highs are very good. Very, very good indeed.

**xlostangelx**: Yes, all those poor people...guess you'll have to see if it all gets better!

**100Jater**: Oh bloody goodness, just READING your penname made my spine tingle and my face twitch. And then reading your review...ahh. lol. Yes, this is a Skate story with Jate conflict in between. Even if you can't STAND reading such Skateness, read it for all the other story lines. Jate just isn't our (Kiss and I's) thing.

_**Reviews, bitte! (That's German, by the way, for "please.)**_


	15. Something New

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Something New-

_By CharliesHoodie _

_A/N: Loved the last chapter! Poor, poor Chadie/Hubby/Skate. But Jana seems to be moving along nicely…despite the fact that Jack doesn't know Ana let Henry go!_

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Peter was _still _asleep; slumped in his chair and breathing lightly through his nose. Adie was still lying on her cot, staring up at the ceiling absently. She was starting to get hungry, but she knew that to get to the kitchen area, she would have to pass the main room. And that was a whole other issue.

She had Kate and Sawyer, who never really trusted her from the beginning, and were now even more misguided. If she were to fix everything, she would have to do a lot of convincing on their part.

Then there was Charlie. They had an unspoken bond from the beginning. A bond that was almost humorous at times. Now it was completely shattered.

**-The Others' Hatch, the Main Room-**

Molly pushed open the heavy door of the hatch. She closed it behind her and walked into the main room, jumping slightly when she saw the three captives, lined up against the wall with their hands and ankles bound.

The man on the end with dishwater blonde shaggy hair had his head tilted away from the others and his eyes closed in a light slumber. The girl with dark, almost curly hair sat in between the sleeping man and another blondish, blue-eyed man. Molly quickly brought up their names from memory. James, Kate and Charlie.

"Adie! Adie!" Molly whispered loudly – as loud as a whisper could be. She ignored Sawyer and Kate as they stared at her. Tucked under her arm was a single crutch she was bringing to her friend.

Back in the small room, Adie heard the demanding whispers from her friend and shot straight up in bed, ignoring the shot of pain that spread through her leg. She looked over at Peter. He was still sleeping heavily.

"Who the hell are you?" Sawyer shot at Molly, eyes glinting with a glare.

Molly shot him a glance and slipped into the room with Adie.

"Adie!" she cried, letting the crutch drop to the floor. In the other room, Charlie shot up.

Adie cringed and looked over at Peter. He had not even stirred.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Adie cried.

"Yes I am," Molly said proudly, picking up the crutch. "They told me to bring you this…but I don't know what for." She paused. "What _happened?"_

Adie sighed, taking he crutch and leaning it against the cot. She rolled down the top of her jeans and showed Molly the bandage. It was coated with dry blood, and she knew she would have to change it soon.

Molly gasped. "How did that happen?"

Adie looked at her, confused. "You mean you don't know?"

Molly shook her head.

Adie bit her lip. Had her family really not told anyone at the camp what had happened, except for maybe a select few? Surely not.

"I…fell. Onto this really sharp rock," Adie said, finding herself telling her best friend the same story she had told Charlie, Kate and Sawyer.

Molly didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything more about the subject. She touched her friend's cheek lightly.

"Your cheeks are sunken in," she said, worry in her usually loud voice. "You're so pale…have you eaten at all?"

"Not much," Adie admitted. But in reality, she hadn't eaten a thing since the accident. And her body and mind was beginning to feel it.

"Go to the kitchen and get something to eat," Molly said. "I'd get you something so you wouldn't have to get up, but I have to go see Henry and tell him how you're doing."

Adie looked up, a confused expression on her face. "Can't that wait?" She wasn't being mean about it, but she wasn't sure why Molly had to be at Henry's right then.

Molly bit her lip. "I could get you food now I guess…"

"It's not about the food," Adie said with a sigh. "I can eat later. I just don't see why things have to be so…like they are here."

Molly's eyes widened. "It's always been like this, Adie."

"But it was different before the Flight 815 survivors came. "How things have been running here…it's starting to show me how our family really is."

"Adie!" Molly gasped. "They've been taking care of us since we were kids. How could you say something like that? They're the same as they've always been!"

"Then maybe I've been missing something," Adie shot back, staring down at her feet.

"Adie…" Molly began, her voice softening and putting her hands over her friend's. "You're my best friend here. We've always been best friends. Promise me you won't do anything stupid…ok?"

Adie nodded slightly, banishing the thoughts about her family for the time being. "Yeah. Yeah, ok. Just go see Henry, all right?"

Molly nodded, smiled at her friend slightly, and quickly left.

Adie collapsed back on her bed, rubbing her red eyes with the heels of her hands. She got up carefully, positioning the crutch under her arm and limping out into the main room. Charlie was up now, and he met her eyes briefly before turning his head away quickly and staring at a spot on the floor.

"Who was that?" Sawyer demanded.

Adie didn't answer. "Are you hungry?"

This time, they didn't answer.

"Fine," Adie said, biting her bottom lip and starting off into the kitchen to get herself something to eat.

Kate was slightly hunched over where she was sitting; rubbing her ankles the best she could with her bound hands. Her face was pale and her eyes looked weak and sad. Both Sawyer and Charlie had never seen her in this state.

"You all right?" Sawyer asked, crinkling his brow in concern. Kate only nodded slightly, but didn't look at him. Sawyer looked down at her ankles, and for the first time noticed her discolored feet.

"Hey!" he shot at Adie.

Adie limped back out of the kitchen and lowered herself back down on the couch. She tried to catch Charlie's eye again, but it didn't work.

"What?" she asked Sawyer dryly.

"You're cutting off her circulation with the ropes," Sawyer exclaimed angrily. "You better take them off."

Adie's eyes traveled over to Kate's pathetic form. Sawyer was right. She looked horrible. And while helping Kate, maybe she could gain some trust back.

"All right," Adie agreed easily, catching them off guard as she carefully stooped down to cut off Kate's ropes. A pain shot up through her hip, and she winced noticeably. She felt Charlie look at her.

She slipped the knife under the ropes and cut them loose, and then did the same to the ones binding her hands together. Kate looked relieved instantly, but didn't show any thanks to Adie.

Doing a quick scan of Sawyer and Charlie's conditions, she noticed they, too, had their circulation cut off by the ropes that had been tied tightly since they day they came. She knew they wouldn't admit it, so she cut Sawyer's without another word. He looked at her in shock for a few seconds, before hiding it and chatting absently with Kate who responded quietly every now and then, her throat dry.

Adie then turned to Charlie, who was watching her out of the corner of his eye. She shakily cut the ropes on his ankles, and then the one holding together his wrists. Her hair lightly brushed his cheek for a moment, and he pulled back slightly after taking a sharp breath.

She pulled away, smiling at him slightly before getting up and leaning against the wood crutch for support.

"I'll have to tie you back up soon. Peter's asleep, but he could wake up anytime. If you leave, or try to leave…someone will find you," she warned. "So don't try anything." With that, she limped back into the smaller room.

* * *

Time passed. Peter woke up, catching Adie entirely off guard. She quickly worked up a lie in her head about someone needing to see him back at the Others' camp, and was able to get him out the back way so the loose captives went unnoticed. What Adie didn't know was that the real trouble and confusion was about to start.

It started when she opened the door to the main room, and Charlie was standing there, looking as if he was about to come in at the same time she was about to come out. In alarm, she stepped back into the room and he followed her in, closing the door behind him.

"What's going on?" he demanded. But it wasn't in a harsh, mean way. It was in a solemn, almost sad way.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing," she responded quietly, not meeting his eyes.

"How about this," Charlie tried wearily. "I tell you want I heard, you tell me if it's the truth or not and I'll decide if I believe you."

Now Adie's eyes shot up. "What did you hear?"

"Your 'family' told me…told us…that you were just as heartless as they are. That you make fun of that book you read…that basically everything we thought that you were is a lie. An act."

Adie's eyes looked soft and hurt. "They told you that…why?"

And right then, seeing her sad and shocked face, made Charlie realize the truth.

"I don't know why. But they said you had been removed from the post…and that you had shot someone."

Tears were now flowing freely down her red cheeks. "Charlie, I'm not like that. You know I'm not. I never did anything…_they _shot _me!"_

Charlie's eyes lit up in alarm. "Who?!"

"I was told it was Trent," Adie said, wiping the warm tears from her eyes.

Charlie didn't know a 'Trent' over at the beach, but didn't press the subject of who shot who any further. "…So you did lie to us."

Adie looked away. "Only because I didn't want you to worry about the shooting. But I guess I didn't have to worry about you guys being concerned about me, considering how hostile you were toward me the minute I showed my face afterward."

Charlie bit his lip. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't know what to believe. In a way, I still don't. But for now…I want to trust you."

Adie felt a small but glad smile inch on her face. Charlie smiled back in the same manner. He almost wanted to kiss her, but thought better of it. Now wasn't the time. They had a lot more to take care of.

"You need to tell Kate and Sawyer exactly what you told me."

**-The Others' Hatch, The Main Room-**

After Charlie left, Kate and Sawyer had the area to themselves.

Kate was sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of dry cereal. Sawyer was next to her, staring at the cold gray wall across the room. They hadn't even spoken to each other yet.

"You still mad at me?" Sawyer finally asked, looking at her through his dirty hair.

"For what?" Kate asked quietly, setting the empty bowl aside.

"For bashing Jack," Sawyer said, too tired to use one of Jack's many nicknames. "You know…when you said 'We kissed' and I said 'I know'…you didn't seem too happy about that."

Kate's lips eased up in a smile and Sawyer grinned slightly. "Is that a no?"

"I'm not mad at you," Kate admitted. "But if you knew anything about what Jack and I have…"

Sawyer sighed wearily. "Freckles, when I see you I see a girl with her hopes set a little too high on this guy. And when I see this guy, I see a serious man who only picks her to help deal with the hard stuff because she's following him around like a lost little girl. In all honesty, when I see you and Jack together I see a mess. I see something that's going to leave you hurt and him not caring."

Kate looked at Sawyer angrily.

"And I'm not saying that I think we'd make the five star couple. I'm just saying…." Sawyer looked away, feeling a little foolish and sappy. "I'm just saying I don't want you to get hurt."

Touched by Sawyer's words, but still upset, Kate stared down at her bare feet. Several thoughts were zooming around in her mind - way too many to keep track of. She didn't rebel when Sawyer took her hand in his.

"Kate," he began, using her real name in a soft, touching way. "You mean the world to me. Not even lying." He laughed slightly at his own words and saw her smiling too. He gently lifted up her chin and planted a kiss on her lips. She willingly deepened before pulling away.

And for at least that moment, things felt right.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: ….Aww. Please review!_

**Review Responses for Chapter 14 (by kissbangx3):**

**xlostangelx: **Haha. No, we would never kill Libby, but good point. Sorry there wasn't any Hubby in this, but there will be soon. Next chapter, if I remember right. Anyway, I don't care if you say the same thing, you're still an awesome reviewer!

**jimmy-barnes-13**: Yay, thanks, I was hoping that line wouldn't be too depressing. Like CH said, I hope you know how awesome you are. I don't think you've ever missed a chapter : -)

**Time and Fate**: Aw, sorry that he's not fun to you... I guess I can never see Charlie as getting on my nerves, depressed or not. But in a few chapters, a lot more interesting stuff will happen with them. Thanks for the reviews again!

**4everLOST**: Phew, completely agree about the Jate. Hopefully this chapter will rebel against them, eh? And I'm just glad you take interest in Charlie, whatever the ship, because some people don't seem to love him the way we (me and CH) do. Oh, and I'm in German II, and I think it's a fairly ugly language, but I love it anyway. You got the Ich liebe Lost right. Thanks for the review, we love new reviewers!

**_Alrighty, thanks for the reviews, I hope my long responses were thanks enough! I'm glad to get 4 without bribe offerings, but here's one anyway: five plus reviews equals four minus days! The more, the less! (Sorry it took so long to get this one out.) We love you all!_**


	16. Pressure

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Pressure-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Yay, great last chapter! This one will have a lot of fluff, and it takes place solely in the Others' hatch. It's got some Skate so I'm sorry if you're a Jateist, but you should be able to enjoy it anyway. It's also got a lot of Charlie's new relationship…_

**-The Others' Hatch-**

They were still untied.

It was a strange feeling for all of them, to be able to walk and talk and touch things. Sawyer was glad to tower over any Others who entered, and Kate was glad to step into the shadows, averting their eyes. Charlie had visited Adie another couple of times, mostly to make sure her leg was all right, each time making a mental note to kill whoever Trent was. It was Kate who first suggested escape.

"No," Charlie said immediately. "Look, I want to get out of here as much as you"—he wasn't sure if this was true; he had a bigger reason to stay than her, but he didn't mention that—"but not that way. We're surrounded by them."

"We can make a plan," Kate said urgently. She was gulping down about her twentieth glass of water that day, and she couldn't believe how good it felt. There wasn't even anyone supervising them at this point. She assumed they'd lost interest.

Sawyer was on the other side of the room. Although he enjoyed moving, he felt like sitting. Kate hadn't said a word to him since their kiss, and he was starting to wonder how he could've been so sure of himself. She was crazy about Jack, after all… right?

But he'd kissed her twice now. Sawyer two, Doc one.

He silently cursed himself for thinking like that, as if Kate was a scoreboard. He glanced sideways at her, talking in a hushed voice with Charlie, and wished more than anything that she had the kind of admiration for him that she had for Jack. But how could she? Sawyer hadn't done an admirable thing in his life.

"What kind of bloody plan gets us through a mob of God knows how many murderous jungle dwellers?" Charlie demanded. Sawyer chuckled to himself. _He _sure wasn't quiet.

"You're becoming really close with Adie, right?" Kate asked after a moment's hesitation.

Charlie blinked at her. "Er…"

"Does she still trust them?" Kate asked him eagerly. "Her 'family?'"

Charlie shrugged. "She's questioning them, sure, but I fail to see the point in—"

"She could give us guns," Kate interrupted.

Sawyer didn't bother to pretend he wasn't listening. He nodded, getting up again. "She's right," he told Charlie. "You could get her to." He could feel Kate's eyes on him, and he wasn't sure what to do. Finally he looked back up at her.

Their gazes held for what felt like ages before Charlie brought them back into sanity.

"I really don't think I should," he said awkwardly. "I'm sure someone from the beach will decide to get us back. Eventually."

"They did, remember?" Kate asked him. Charlie had told her and Sawyer everything Adie had told him. "They shot Adie and ran away. Big help."

"And who's to say they'll actually get us, anyway?" Sawyer added. "Somethin' tells me these people are a little better with their guns, except maybe the Iraqi."

When he looked back at Kate, she looked disappointed. "Sayid," she corrected bitterly, and turned away from him to Charlie.

"I'm not doing it," he said stiffly, "okay? I'm just not. Now why don't you two work out your couple issues?"

"I'd say the same for you and our little miss Adie over there, too," Sawyer chuckled, but he didn't feel too humorous.

Charlie glared at him and left, leaving Sawyer and Kate alone to talk.

"So," Kate said uncertainly.

"Some kiss, huh?" he asked. He couldn't help it; it had been incredible. It didn't have the intensity of their first kiss, but it had been real. No tricks, no bargains.

But could he really think that, "no tricks?" Surely she wouldn't have kissed him if she knew about him and Ana Lucia, or any of the other things from his pathetic past.

She didn't say anything for a minute. He didn't, either. He just stood there, taking in her appearance: careworn and tired but still youthful; messy but clean; regretful but relieved.

"Sawyer," she finally said in a much more assertive voice, "do you want to be with me or not?"

He raised his eyebrows, honestly surprised. _That _wasn't what he expected. Did he? He knew that his heart wanted to, but there were way to many complications. He'd have to tell her about Ana Lucia eventually, he'd bring her into a life he regretted and didn't want for her, and he'd be giving her a lot less than she deserved. But did he want to be with her? Yes.

"You know it's more complicated than that," he said instead.

She shrugged. "I know. But that's the question I asked. I'd like an answer."

Her assertiveness was making him nervous, but he had to admit he was glad someone finally got around to asking the inevitable question. They couldn't just kiss every time they felt like it and yell at each other the rest of the time.

But he didn't know what to say. If he said "yes," he'd either embarrass himself and ruin their relationship or create a new relationship and probably destroy her life. He didn't like either one. So instead he did what he knew how to do: he leaned in, once again, and kissed her.

He was hoping to make it better and longer than any of their old ones, but she cut it off quickly. He was surprised in how disappointed he was.

"I know _that,_" she said irritably. "It's not the easy way out for an answer, Sawyer."

"Aw, so my many charms weren't good enough for you?" he asked with a small grin. It was the only thing he was used to. He couldn't be the man she wanted; he couldn't answer her question. He was trying, but he didn't know what to say.

"Sawyer," she said with a tiny hint of desperation in her voice. "Just answer."

He looked at her hopeful face again. Hopeful for what? Probably for him to say yes, and it made him thrilled, but what about the doctor? Jack was much better for her. And yet…

"Yeah," he finally said. "Yeah, Freckles, I do."

**-Bunk Room of the Others' Hatch-**

Charlie was sick of watching Sawyer and Kate bicker, because he knew it just meant they were starting to come together. And as happy as he was for them (Kate, anyway—he didn't really know how to be happy for Sawyer), it made him mad. Sure, he and Adie were very different, but so were Kate and Sawyer, and they'd kissed how many times?

He leaned against the wall of Adie's room, watching her sleep. He felt creepy and remotely like a stalker, but he didn't want to go back to the main room to watch Kate and Sawyer snog, and he didn't want to wake her up. Instead he walked across the room to their record collection.

Just as he was putting the needle on _Strawberry Fields Forever, _the Beatles song that inspired his tattoo, Adie stirred and woke up. She jumped about a mile when she saw him.

"Charlie?" she asked sleepily, but her eyes were wide open.

He shrugged. "Sorry to scare you," he said honestly. "It was getting pretty bloody awful in here."

She shrugged. "It's fine. Where's Peter and the others?"

"Not here. Something tells me you're supposed to be babysitting us."

She laughed lightly. "Probably am. Sorry."

"Don't be. You think I enjoy—?" He stopped himself, not bothering to go into details. He didn't want to make her feel bad or cause a fight. He just wanted things to work out. He wanted Adie to abandon her "family" and join the survivors. She and Charlie could be together, he would be able to escape, and…

"Sorry," she said again. "I know. I wish there was something I could do."

_There is, _he thought, but he didn't say it. "It's fine. You took our ropes off, right? You convinced that Henry guy to let us keep 'em off."

She didn't look proud. "Something more than _that,_" she said with a frown. "Look, Charlie, if it was up to me, I'd let you all go in a hearbeat. You didn't do anything to deserve this… I don't see why they think you did…"

He laughed bitterly. "'Cause I shot Ethan, probably."

Adie stayed quiet. Finally she said softly, "He wasn't a good friend of ours."

"'Ours?'" he repeated. "You mean the Others? I thought he was one."

"No, mostly Peter and me, plus a few friends of mine like this girl, Molly. We just never liked him. He had bad morals. He said he worked for the greater good, but…" She shrugged. "I don't hold it against you. I'm not glad you did it, but you had your reasons."

Was that how she was raised? Thinking murder was easily shrugged off? Charlie couldn't pass off that memory, no matter how hard he tried. Still, he let that go in favor of the other things she said. "Thanks," he said, because he really was glad she supported it.

She nodded. "Sure," she said, getting out of the bed. He was amused to see that she was wearing plaid pajamas pants and a baggy The Flames T-shirt.

"Was that your dad's?" he asked softly.

She looked down, quiet, and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "They found it in his luggage. They threw it away without showing it to me, but I took it out of our landfill."

He felt so bad for her that he forgot to make a joke about them having a landfill. "Adie, that's pretty awful," he said grimly.

She nodded. "It is, I know. But I think they were trying to spare me, you know?" She looked like she was trying a little too hard to believe what she was saying. "I don't think they wanted me to have memories. For my own good."

Charlie felt a wave of pity go out to her as he asked quietly, "Are you convincing me or yourself?"

Her light eyes were becoming watery, and Charlie knew he'd taken it too far. He didn't want her to trust the Others, he wanted her to trust him. But not at her own expense. He didn't want to see her like this.

But apparently she didn't hold it against him, because the next thing she did was walk over to him and kiss him.

**-The Others' Hatch (Main Room)-**

"You do?" Kate asked shakily, a mixture of relief and fear written across her face.

Sawyer averted her eyes. "I answered, didn't I?" he asked irritably. "Don't keep askin' me the same thing."

Her face broke into a smile. "Okay," she said, nodding. "Sorry. So…"

"So, what now?" he asked for her.

She shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, we always have fun together, but…"

"We're in a hatch, captive," he finished for her again. "Yep, it kinda does dampen our spirits a little. But I know a few things we could do."

Kate had a rising-and-sinking feeling that he was going to suggest kissing or more, but instead he grabbed a wet sponge from the sink and hurled it at her. Kate fake-gasped and hurled it back at him. They spent what felt like hours throwing sponges, towels, and other objects found in the hatch at each other, feeling like they were back in high school and everything was normal and fine, and they weren't stuck on an island.

Finally Kate dropped her "weapon," collapsing onto the sofa while laughing so hard she was crying. "_That _was a way to pass time," she said, heaving an exhausted but contented sigh as Sawyer plopped down next to her.

"C'mon, you gotta admit it was fun," he said, putting an arm around her neck and grinning at her, his dimples wide. "Funner than we've been spendin' most of our time."

She smiled and rested her head on his chest, not only because she was tired but because it felt right. They breathed at the same rates, spoke at the same rates, and smiled at the same rates, and everything felt perfect.

_Let's see if it stays this way, _Kate thought to herself. It was the island—no one stayed happy for long.

"It'll be fine," Sawyer said more seriously.

"What will?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Everything. The way things turn out. We'll get outta here, Freckles. We'll get outta this hatch and off the island."

Kate noticed that he didn't mention their relationship in his "it'll be fine" explanation, and she had a sinking feeling that despite their current happiness, there were things they were keeping from each other and unsaid problems they'd have to clarify. But Kate was a fugitive and Sawyer was a con-man, and neither was eager to talk.

**-Bunk Room of the Others' Hatch-**

Charlie had wanted desperately to kiss Adie for a long time, but he pulled away more quickly than either of them would like. It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss her, on any level at all; it was more that he wanted to clear things up before they took anything any further.

"Sorry," Adie mumbled, obviously assuming he didn't want to kiss her.

He gave her a small, encouraging smile. "Don't be."

She glanced back up at him.

"Look, I really…" Charlie looked nervous, but he also looked brave. "I really want this, Adie. I've wanted it for quite a long time, come to think of it." He had, which was probably why he'd felt so torn up when he thought she was putting on an act. "But… there are so many complications. It's bloody _West Side Story _for us."

Adie blinked at him, confused.

He laughed. "_Romeo and Juliet_?" he asked instead.

"Oh." She realized what he was saying and laughed slightly. "It is, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling at her apparent naiveness. But he knew she wasn't at all naïve; she was obviously smart. She was just caught up in two worlds, not knowing which was right and which was wrong. "So what are we going to do?"

She shrugged, looking pained. "Charlie, I told you, I don't want to have to choose."

Charlie bit his lip. "I don't want to have to make you choose," he said, "but I think it's going to come naturally."

She paused for a moment, thinking. She'd never felt the way she did about Charlie with an Other, but it was the classic family versus soulmate, family love or passionate love. She didn't know which to choose, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

"Let me think about it," she finally said unsurely.

He nodded. "Sure," he said understandingly. He started forward to kiss her again, but he decided against it. Instead he gave her a short, sweet peck on the cheek before quickly turning to leave.

* * *

Contemplating the meaning and turnout of their relationship had led Sawyer and Kate back to the thing they had originally wanted: escape. Now that Charlie was back with such a happy look in his eyes, they knew things had gone well with Adie.

"Charlie, she'll listen to you," Kate urged him. "You've got to help us."

Sawyer nodded. "Sleeping with the enemy isn't always a bad thing, now is it?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

Charlie rolled his eyes, not bothering to correct him. "Look, Adie still doesn't even know who she trusts. I'm not going ask something like you're suggesting of her." He didn't want to have to worry about it, but he had a sinking feeling that if he asked Adie to give them guns or help them escape one more time, she'd bounce back and choose her family. He'd be asking her to choose, and he'd already said he wouldn't.

Then again, wasn't her family asking her to choose them over him? Maybe he should go ahead and ask.

"I'm sure at this point she wants you to escape, though," Kate said a little desperately. "You don't think she'd help us anonymously or anything, like maybe giving us each a gun?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, I don't," he replied hastily. He wouldn't ask it of her—not yet, at least, if ever. If he wanted to let her choose, he wouldn't push her in either direction.

"Maybe eventually you'll see that there aren't many other options," Kate sighed, looking around the hatch. They had all run out of ideas.

**-LOST-**

_Not a very dramatic ending, I know, but I did my best. I hope you liked it, and I hope Jate lovers could stand it. I promise that Kate, Sawyer, and Charlie aren't captive for the whole story, so things should get more interesting soon. CH's next!_

**Review Responses for Chapter 15 (by CharliesHoodie)**:

**Mystery Island**: Oh, Jate. Goodness. Just...goodness. ) How can you not like Charlie (as much)? He's so...so pretty!

**jimmy-barnes-13**: Molly...heh. You'll see what direction she goes in ;)Yes, the Skate is amazing in every way shape and form!

Two reviews, eh? I know you can do better than that… we love you! Feedback is our antidrug! (Not that we'd ever do drugs. It's just an expression.)

Happy Halloween!


	17. Gamble Everything for Love

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Gamble Everything For Love-

_By CharliesHoodie _

_A/N: I know there hasn't been much beach stuff in these past few chapters, so here it comes!_

"Locke."

John turned around to see Sayid approaching him. He looked almost angry, which was very out of character for him.

"What is it?" Locke asked, putting down the knife he was sharpening.

"You have guns."

Locke stiffened slightly. Everyone knew he had the three extra guns by now. That didn't worry him. What Sayid would suggest did.

"Yes," Locke said hesitantly. "Why?"

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels we need to save three of our own," Sayid said, looking at Locke like he knew that he, too, was on the same page.

"You're not," Locke reassured. "But three guns isn't going to do it. Ana has the rest of the guns, and Jack isn't about to let anyone go out there again."

"Because of the girl," Sayid said. It wasn't a question. "We're going to have to overlook that for now – we need to get them back. I think I can work something out with Ana. And Jack…we'll just have to overlook him too."

Locke was a little shocked at Sayid's boldness. He didn't want to admit he was nervous about how Jack would react. After all, this type of leadership and independence was what he wanted.

"If we can get enough people to do this with us, Jack will eventually back down," Sayid said, as if reading Locke's mind. "And then Ana will give us the guns."

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"Absolutely not," Charlie said, shaking his head and refusing to look at Kate. "No."

"Charlie, there's no other way. If you're not going to talk to her, I am. We're running out of time. And right now, your relationship with her shouldn't be your first priority."

Kate immediately felt bad for saying it, but she was getting a little impatient. She saw the hurt in Charlie's eyes, but didn't bother to apologize.

"It'll be easier for both of you if I do this," she said quickly, trying to fix what she had said. "That way you won't feel bad."

Charlie opened his mouth to protest, but Sawyer cut him off.

"Come on," he said tiredly. "Sure, she's hot. But is one girl on their side worth it? Wouldn't you rather have the three of us out?"

Charlie didn't know how to answer it. In a perfect situation, Adie would be on their side and leave with them and he wouldn't have to worry about never seeing her again. But this was far from a perfect situation.

But he did know there was no winning with Kate and Sawyer pressuring him into this. His shoulders sunk in defeat and he looked away.

"Guess that a 'go ahead'," Sawyer said, turning to Kate and feeling sorry for Charlie for probably one of the first times.

Kate glanced at Charlie a little guiltily and slipped into Adie's room.

**-Adie's Room-**

Once Kate came in, just by looking at her expression, Adie could tell what was going to happen. She thought she had been ready for it, but now she wasn't so sure. What would she do without Charlie? What would she do with her 'family' - the people she was still questioning?

"Hi," Kate said a little weakly, sitting down next to Adie and forcing a smile. "This might be a little hard to talk about. But I want you to know that you're not going to have to admit to anything once we're gone…"

Adie bit her lip and looked down. Kate stopped sympathetically. "You ok?"

Adie nodded and looked back up, but not at Kate. "I know. I know you want me to help you leave, and I know I don't have to tell them I did it. I just…"

"You could even come with us," Kate offered. But when she saw Adie's face and when Adie didn't respond, she didn't bring it up again.

"We would need three guns – rifles," Kate said.

Adie sat up quickly. "You would shoot them?"

Kate didn't know how to answer this. "…If they tried to hurt us…yes…but only in the legs."

Adie glared at Kate, making Kate feel horrible and un-human. She tried to explain briefly, but it came out in a messed up jumble of words. Adie just turned away, trying to think _why _she felt the way she did about these people.

**-Flashback-**

It was Adie's job to bury things in the landfill. Anything that they didn't need would go directly to her and she'd drag it up to the closest hill and bury it.

She was only thirteen at the time. Although old enough to have opinions, she still felt too young to stand up for herself, and she had been taught to feel a certain way about her family. She didn't know it at the time, but the Others were worried about how she would act when she became older.

She drug up the trash bag and threw it down wearily. Grabbing her shovel, she struck the dry dirt that was already a little loose and began to dig up a hole that had been filled in only a few days ago. There was room for the new trash bag, thankfully.

She was about to toss the new bag in, but she noticed a sleeve of some sort hanging over the edge of the trash bag at the bottom of the hole.

Curious of why they would throw away a T-shirt, Adie tossed the shovel aside and pulled out the bag. She dumped it out.

The Flames T-shirt. Her father's T-Shirt. Adie felt her lips quiver as she scooped it up in her arms and shoved it into her cargo bag. No, she didn't remember her parents well, but they still had no right to keep this from her.

Adie absently threw in the trash bags and half-heartedly covered them back up with dirt.

It was a day she shouldn't have forgotten.

**-Adie's Room-**

Charlie had been right about the shirt. He had been right about a lot of things. The shirt was just a small, minor thing. But it was a reminder to her of how her 'family' really was.

Who they really were.

And it made her sick to think of all the people they had tricked. Her. Molly, who had yet to figure this out. Alex, who was early to discover some of these things - who knew something was off from the start.

"Yes," she said to Kate quietly. "I can get you three rifles."

**-The Beach-**

Before long, everyone at the beach knew about the plan to get back Charlie, Kate and Sawyer. A little less than half were with Locke and Sayid.

Hurley was one of them. He was sitting by his tent and packing food and water for the pursuit into the jungle. He still hadn't talked to Libby at all, but he had seen her every now and then, walking alone.

He wondered where she stood in all of this. He was almost sure she would be one of the peacekeepers and go to the caves with everyone else who wasn't going to the Others' camp. But really, what did he know about her?

"Hurley," a voice said quietly on cue. Hurley jerked around and saw Libby's standing behind him awkwardly.

"Hi," Hurley said uneasily, turning back to his packing.

Libby hesitantly crouched down next to him. "Are you coming to the caves, too?"

"No," Hurley said immediately, zipping up his backpack and tossing it aside. "I'm going to help Locke and Sayid."

"But why? Aren't there enough people already going?"

Hurley glared at her slightly. Her soft eyes drifted down to stare at the sand.

"Maybe," Hurley said a little more gently. "But Charlie's my friend. And I like Kate. And as much as I don't like admitting it, I want Sawyer to come back too. So, yes, Libby, I'm going."

"It's safer at the caves…the rest of the people can get them back," Libby pleaded. "You don't need to, Hurley."

Hurley frowned and stood up. "Don't tell me what to do, ok?"

And with that, he left her in the sand.

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"Knock knock," Charlie said quietly with a nervous laugh.

Adie looked up. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, and had been concentrating on the floor. She smiled at Charlie slightly, and he came in with a record in his hand.

"What's that?" Adie asked. She was having a hard time looking at him.

"The Kinks," he answered, sitting next to her and trying to catch her eye. "Do you like them? I found this on the bookshelf."

"I listen to them all the time," she said quietly. "My dad liked them. I remember he used to play them all the time over the intercom during our flights."

"What's your favorite song?" he asked, flipping the record over to look at the back where the songs were listed.

"Waterloo Sunset," she answered after briefly looking at the cover.

Charlie nodded and put it in the record player and sat down next to her. This time, she stared at him a moment before looking away.

"You aren't upset with me, are you?" he asked quietly as the gentle melody played in the background of their conversation. "Because if I could do anything to fix it, you know I wo-"

"No, I'm not mad at you," Adie cut him off. "I just…don't want you to leave."

"Well, I don't have to!" Charlie said, ecstatic. "I mean…I do have to leave, but you could come with me…"

"No," Adie said, shaking her head. "You know they would look for me. You…your people can protect you from us. We're not as strong as you probably think. But if I were with you…they would get me back. Imagine what a mess it would be, especially since your people wouldn't want me there, anyway."

Charlie knew she was right. A sad smile slipped on his face. "I can play Waterloo Sunset on my guitar," he teased weakly in a last feeble attempt.

Adie laughed, but he could also tell she was crying as well. It was hard for both of them to grasp how little time they had been together but how much they were already in love, as silly as it sounded.

"This is indeed Romeo and Juliet," Charlie said in between laughs and tears.

"How long did they know each other?" Adie asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"A week," Charlie answered. "If I remember that unit in English class."

Adie nodded. "The ending's a little off," she said with a small smile.

"Not by much," he responded, tucking her hair behind her ear and leaning in so his warm breath was on her neck. "Still just as tragic."

Adie looked down, wondering if he was going to kiss her or not. She felt she would nearly go crazy if he didn't before he left, but she was sure she'd go crazy without him anyway.

"Charlie…" she began, but was cut off by his lips as they pressed against hers. She stiffened awkwardly in his arms and didn't go through the basic motions – kissing back, closing her eyes.

Charlie noticed this and pulled away. "I forgot. I was your first kiss, and that lasted for about half a second."

Adie blushed. "Yeah."

Charlie smiled at her lovingly and scooted closer to her. He put his hand on her cheek and let her lean in by herself.

"Close your eyes," he told her softly, their foreheads nearly touching. She did. "Now, keep them closed," he said as he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers again.

She slowly relaxed and began to kiss him back. He was kissing her probably a little too deeply. He was used to doing this with girls who were probably a little too experienced for their age, so he slowed it down a little.

Adie reached up and touched the back of his head, grabbing a handful of his hair gently to pull herself a little deeper into the kiss.

Charlie ended the kiss a few seconds later, afraid they were getting a little too ahead of themselves. Adie looked at him shyly, smiling and blushing.

"I love you," Charlie said sincerely. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I mean – who knew that some plane would just HAPPEN to crash on some island that just happened to have a bunch of homicidal people on it and in that group of homicidal people was someone like you?"

"It doesn't happen everyday," Adie said. "It's too bad it has to end like this."

**-The Beach-**

Hurley looked down at the gun in his hands, his face wrinkled in slight disgust. What good could he do in this mess? He wouldn't be able to run as fast as everyone else. He might be able to learn to shoot the gun, but he wouldn't be able to use it in a panic situation. Who was he to think he could actually shoot and possibly kill someone?

That wasn't who he was. He was Hurley: the funny, fat, make-you-smile-in-a-crappy-situation kind of guy. The comic relief in all of this.

He glanced over at Sayid, who was teaching someone how to load one of the guns. The man thanked Sayid and walked away, the gun in his hands.

"Sayid," Hurley said, standing up and walking over to his friend. "I can't do this." Instead of pouring out reasons why, he simply said what was expected of him. "I'd screw something up."

A smile inched on Sayid's face and he took the gun from Hurley. "That's not a problem, Hurley."

Hurley smiled and nodded, and turned around to spot Libby packing her bags for the caves.

"Hey, Libby!" he called over to her. She stopped what she was doing and looked up, unsure of what to say to him.

But he spoke first.

"Ready to go to the caves?"

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Ah! Hoped you liked the chapter! One relationship put on hold…forever? One relationship back in business!_

**Review Responses for Chapter 16 (by kissbangx3):**

**Mystery Island: **Yay, I'm so glad you like him now! I guess I get what you mean about the show, but we just can't get enough of him. I'm glad you don't mind Skate, since you might be seeing a bit of it… not that it's lacking on the show… thanks for the review!

**jimmy-barnes-13: **Yay, thank you! I really am sorry to hear you're a Jater, but I'm glad you can bear it. Thanks for the reviews, again, you're awesome!

**Jater: **Eh. I really don't see why people like Jack so much, let alone Jate, but you're entitled to your opinions. As you can guess, it's Skate, but I hope you like it anyway. Hey, if you can bear it on the show, hopefully you can bear it in this.

**4everLost: **Hehe, thanks, I'm glad someone's being appreciative of Charlie. And we're glad Adie's developing well. And I'm definitely glad you like Skate moments. Thanks for the review!

_Alrighty, sorry for the late update. All my (kissbangx3 now) fault, really, so don't blame CharliesHoodie. Hopefully if we get **a few more reviews**, updates will be quicker, hmm? Glad you guys like it!_


	18. Reasons Why

**Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own**

-Reasons Why-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Yay, we've got romance now! And now you get to read about the SHOOT-OUT!_

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"Are you sure about this?" Kate asked Charlie nervously. Adie was in the back room getting their guns, and Charlie was sweating worse than he did with withdrawals.

"_Now _you ask me for my opinion?" he spat with a snort, but she knew it was just because he was anxious. None of them were looking forward to it—even Sawyer looked distressed, with his arms crossed and pacing quietly but tiredly across the room.

"So three of us are gonna kill all of them?" Sawyer asked.

Charlie glared at him. "We're not killing any of them, if we can help it," he corrected strictly. "If we don't have another choice, then men only. And in the legs and arms. We don't want to kill anyone—Adie is doing us enough of a favor with this."

Sawyer snorted. "Sorry, but if you think I'm gonna pass up an opportunity like _this_—"

Kate cut him off with a hard, stern glare.

He shrugged and put his arms up in defeat. "Okay, I'll only shoot a few, I swear."

Kate couldn't help but laugh a little, even though it was hardly a joking matter.

Charlie glared at him. "You're an arsehole, you know that?" he asked Sawyer, and he stalked off.

**-The Others' Hatch: Gun Room-**

Charlie didn't say anything as he leaned against the frame of the door, watching Adie. She was loading their guns—the nicest guns in there—with a sad but peaceful look on her face. Her every movement was graceful, and despite the tear that had escaped from her eyes, she looked like she could deal with it. Charlie had no idea how—he was freaking out about everything.

"Charlie," she said with raised eyebrows when she finally saw him.

Charlie nodded weakly. He didn't want to leave, but he couldn't stay… could he? The last few days hadn't been bad at all, not since they were untied. They were just as good as the days on the island, really.

"You can't stay," Adie said automatically. Her voice was heavy but, as he had expected, resolute. "You need to go back. This is one of the only times Peter and the others will be gone long enough for you to sneak out of here unnoticed. If you're lucky, maybe you'll make it the whole way."

Charlie knew she was right, but he didn't want to go through with it. "So come with us," he urged, even though he knew it was pointless. "Please."

She heaved a heavy sigh, piled the three guns into his arms, and faced him. "Charlie, I know everything there is to know about sacrifice and moving on. Losing my parents was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I've never gotten over it. They're always in my memory."

He felt a wave of pity and admiration for her, but he let her continue.

"That's what I have to do now: let it happen, grieve, try to move on, and keep you in my memory. Maybe some day we'll meet again."

He held her gaze. Each of her words were just making him miss her more, and he hadn't even left. Finally he nodded.

"Fine," he said, "but if a rescue plane ever comes, I'm going to drag you out of here, do you hear?"

She smiled sadly. "There won't be a rescue plane, Charlie."

"I know." He set the guns down on the table next to him. "Well, when—not if, _when_—we meet again, I'm expecting a bloody nice reunion."

She laughed. "Deal."

He stepped a little closer and leaned in for a final kiss. They were used to it by now; despite how much Adie was going to miss him, she wanted to cherish the moments she had, and vice versa.

"So how do goodbye kisses work?" she asked him softly before their lips met.

"Well, besides reunion ones, they're the best of all," he said, and they met.

Their kiss was long and sad, and when they broke apart, more tears had slipped down Adie's pale, soft cheeks. Charlie gently wiped them for her before leaning in for a tight, honest hug. Neither of them wanted to let go, but they did.

"And the saddest," he added after a second.

She sniffed, cheeks wet from hot tears, as he stepped away. He took the guns and stepped back through the doorway.

"Good bye, Charlie," she said seriously.

He turned part of the way and nodded to her. He didn't have the strength to say it back.

**-The Beach-**

"I can't believe you gave in," Jack said to Ana. "I'm not scolding—I'm glad you did."

She didn't look glad. There were almost twenty people gathered in single file lines of four or five, and she was watching with bitter distaste as Locke and Sayid shouted the plan at them. Jin stood to one side, commanding people in Korean as Sun translated (she was going to the caves but helping for now).

"I shouldn't have," Ana grumbled, "but I swear, they'd probably have formed a mob and killed me with a pitchfork if I didn't."

Jack laughed. "I believe that. I guess being on an island without laws let them believe they can do whatever they want."

"Can't they?" Ana asked, surprised. "There's no one here to stop them."

He shrugged. "You're right. I just wish they'd get it on their own."

"What do you think will happen?" she asked him, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "I mean, I'm not too fond of them myself, but I don't want them to _die._"

Jack sighed. "I know. I don't, either. And I've always liked Charlie and Kate. Just because I don't want to risk lives to save them doesn't mean I don't want them saved."

Ana winced when she heard him say that he'd always liked Kate. It was pointless, really, but she wanted his feelings for Kate to disappear. She had to admit that she felt something for him, but it didn't matter; there were too many secrets with her and Jack. Way, way too many.

**-Flashback, Less Than Four Months Ago-**

Ana Lucia couldn't believe that she was actually back. She'd wanted to get the woman a restraining order, for the woman's sake, but she hadn't expected herself to go through with it. She regretted doing anything with Christian, so why would she possibly be trying to solve the Shepherd family mystery?

But she was. And as soon as her fist hit the door, it opened.

"You're back!" the woman said happily. "Christian has been calling nonstop. It has to end. Did you get the order?"

Ana bit her lip. "Well, I filed for it," she said, "but the judge wants to have a court hearing with both of you. She's not allowed to take my word for it. So just pick one of the dates listed here"—she handed the woman a slip of paper—"and call me when you know which one you want. I also need your name and number, because I never got them…"

"Of course," she said quickly. They exchanged names and numbers. The woman's name turned out to be Cassandra.

"Okay," Cassandra said, "I'll call you when I find a time. Thanks again. Oh, Sarah's here, if you'd like to meet her."

Ana's eyes widened, but before she could leave, Cassandra was pulling her inside. Sure enough, a younger, prettier version of her mother (with a rounder stomach) was sitting on the sofa, looking exhausted and watching _Say Anything _with a bowl of popcorn and a tub of ice cream.

Ana Lucia cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she said, "but maybe if you're pregnant you shouldn't be eating that much junk food." Ana couldn't help it. She'd studied up a lot on babies when she herself was pregnant, and she couldn't believe that Sarah would be mistreating a baby before it was even born.

Sarah looked annoyed and ashamed. "I know," she said. "Sorry. So you're the cop who's going to get Christian to leave me alone?"

Ana Lucia nodded. "That's me. You'll need to be at the hearing, too."

Sarah didn't look like she cared about that. Instead she put a hand on her stomach and said, "Jack was amazing. He was the smartest, cutest, most sensitive guy I've ever met. He never cheated, never blew me off for friends… And he kept me from becoming paralyzed. I owe him the world for that."

_I don't need to hear this, _Ana Lucia thought sadly. _Not with my own miserable love history. _But she found herself listening, anyway.

"He was amazing," Sarah said again. "Any girl's dream guy. Rich, too; he was a doctor."

Ana scowled. She'd always liked doctors. They were always admired more than police, and for that she didn't, but the doctors had been so nice to her during her pregnancy. And once it was over.

"But he kept working, you know? Long, long hours. Sometimes I wish I just dealt with it. I don't want to raise this kid on my own."

"You could tell Jack," Ana Lucia suggested. She didn't understand what the big deal was. So he worked long hours. Worse things had happened.

"You don't understand," Sarah said. "It wasn't just the hours. It was his obsession with being perfect, and with helping everyone. He couldn't let things be. He was really into me at the beginning, because I needed fixing. Once I was healed, I needed to be with him, and once I was with him, I needed to marry him. But after that, he stopped caring."

"Try moving on," Ana suggested."Find the kid a new dad."

"I can't move on, though," Sarah explained. "Jack… tainted me. I tried dating when we first got our divorce, before I was showing, and it was like no one was as good as him. I felt like every guy was terrible, just because they dulled in comparison.

"Do you get what I'm saying? He was so perfect, so completely brilliant and wonderful, that when he moved me down on his priorities list, my heart just broke, and it'll never be mended, because there will never, ever be a person as amazing as Jack."

Ana felt her heart go out to this girl. It was pathetic, to her; Sarah hadn't experienced a loved one's death or even divorce, by his will. But the way she put it, this man was evil.

"Just do me a favor," Sarah continued. "Never let yourself do that. Don't fall in love with a man like him. Love a man with flaws. Never fall in love with a man like Jack Shephard."

**-Present Day, the Beach-**

"Ana?" Jack asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said absentmindedly. "Sorry."

"What were you thinking about?" Jack asked. He didn't seem too interested, because he was focused on worrying at the army of their people that was already a few hundred feet into the jungle, but he did seem to want to know.

Ana considered telling him. Maybe he'd have a logical explanation, and she wouldn't feel so bad about liking him. But she couldn't bring herself to, because she couldn't bear to think how he would react to it. That was a big thing to keep a secret—even bigger than her fling with Sawyer.

"I was remembering this piece of advice someone gave me," Ana said. "I don't think I followed it."

**-The Others' Hatch-**

"You guys," Charlie said, "are we completely and utterly _positive_ that—"

"_Yes,_" Kate and Sawyer groaned. They were in the main room, guns at the ready, and heading toward the door. Adie had gone outside already to distract Peter and the others in charge of the captives.

Once they reached it, Charlie asked, "Do you think they'll know Adie helped us?"

"I hope not," Kate said honestly, and she opened the door.

She had only cracked it, because she wasn't sure what to expect. It was a wheel-door just like their back door, and it opened the same way. Just like in theirs, behind the hatch door was an area covered by trees. Unlike theirs, the trees were just a bit of forestation and not part of the jungle. The Others' camp was only about twenty yards away. There were guards in front of the buildings and a few circling around the premises.

"Plan?" Sawyer whispered.

"That way," Kate said, pointing away from the camp. Sawyer went first, flattening himself against the outside of the hatch, and Kate and Charlie followed likewise. They did that until they reached a sharp corner of the hatch (this wasn't the fake hatch the guard was guarding, but it was also above ground). Then they jumped down and ducked.

"You're sure no one's behind us?" Charlie asked nervously.

"Baby," Sawyer teased.

Kate kicked him before turning to Charlie. "No one is now, but it might not stay that way. Look, the guards that are circling the area are all going in the same direction. There are what, three?" She counted and nodded. "Three. We just need to go somewhere in the middle of two of their rotations, stay as far away from the camp as we can, and head that way." She pointed across the camp.

"Wait," Sawyer said. "Why don't we just go _that _way until it's safe?" He pointed behind him, into the empty woods.

"They'll be more likely to see us," Kate said, "because they always look over there. If we look conspicuous enough and head this way, we'll probably be okay. Then, at least if they see us and we run, we'll be heading in the right direction."

"I'll take the risk," Charlie muttered, but he knew he should rely on what Kate was saying.

They sat patiently, not really wanting to move, until Kate gave them the signal to run. They got up and darted to the next big clump of trees. They each hid behind a tree and stood, completely still and guns at the ready, until Kate gave them the second signal that the guards were gone.

This time they ran a lot further. They were safely enough away from the camp for the guard not to hear them, but they were amazed that he didn't see them. Still, they decided to consider themselves lucky, and they took shelter behind another set of trees.

But this time Kate's signal was a little off, and as they began running, they could tell that they were noticed. They were already behind the main camp, so they had passed most of the Others, but they still had a few near them. The guard near them spun around and yelled something.

"He's not armed!" Kate shouted to them, sounding unbelievably thankful. "Sawyer?"

Sawyer actually glanced at Charlie, seeking his permission. Surprised, Charlie nodded. Sawyer aimed his gun and shot the guard directly in the shin. The guard winced in pain and fell to the ground, and the trio continued running. Many people had gathered around the fallen guard, but only a few were still following them.

But as they ran, a few turned to at least ten, and they knew that soon they would be surrounded. Some of the ten were shooting (and, luckily, missing), so before she could change her mind, Kate yelled, "FIRE!"

Charlie stopped moving and turned, scanning the faces for anyone he would recognize. He didn't, and they were all old and intimidating-looking men, so he bit his lip, aimed the gun, and shot the Others near him. He felt terrible, and he was doing his best to shoot them only in the legs and arms, but he was mostly just blindly firing. It was working, though; at least five had fallen.

Kate was shooting them in perfect places like a pro, but mostly she was running. She was further back than Charlie, who had stopped moving, and Sawyer, who was running and shooting. On her third person down, she couldn't take it any more. She ran some more and sat on a tree stump, tears in her eyes, as she watched Sawyer and Charlie fend off the five more Others.

"Oh, God," she heard from Charlie. She sat up immediately, but she couldn't understand it. They had succeeded; all the Others near them were down, and none of the trio was shot. There were others, but they were too far away.

"What?" Kate demanded, jogging over to him.

"I… shot…" He couldn't finish. Instead, he pointed on the ground.

There, lying on the ground with blood spilling all around her, was a girl about Adie's age. Charlie remembered her talking about a Molly, and his head began to spin in fear, guilt, and nausea.

The bullet was in her heart.

**-LOST-**

_I know. Sorry. But think about it—the movies where people die are always the ones with the Academy Awards and stuff, right? Brokeback Mountain, Titanic, etc.? Just think of this as an award-winning book!_

_Or you can cry and leave us comments that say how much you want to read the next chapter. That works too: D_

_CH's up next!_

PS- Sorry, we had a problem with responses, but we'll be responding again next chapter.


	19. Mad World

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own **

-Be With You-

_by CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: Last chapter was SHOCKING. Wow. How will Adie react? Guess you'll find out in the next few chapters._

_What's going to happen with K/S/C and the beach people?? Guess you'll have to keep reading!_

Adie had no time to mourn about Charlie being gone. She had to act fast.

She had to act as if she were as unaware as anyone else in their village.

She dashed out of the hatch and toward the gathering crowd. What were they gathering around? She felt something heavy in her stomach and slowed down a little. She suddenly had the feeling that something might be wrong…maybe Charlie had been shot?

Or maybe it was one someone from her family.

When she saw Peter approaching her, she put on a panicked expression. She wasn't really acting much, though

"Peter, they got out with the guns," she said breathlessly. "I'm so sorry. I just woke up and they were gone…someone must have left the armory open. I shouldn't have been sleeping, it was a mistake to leave them-"

Peter silenced her and she stopped mid-sentence, worried if he already knew what she had done.

"Did they get away?" Adie asked, trying to hide the hopefulness in her voice. Peter nodded solemnly and Adie appeared devastated, while inside she was relieved.

"So he's not hurt. Good," Adie thought to herself. "Now to keep everyone from wanting to go after them." That would be a harder task.

But to Adie's surprise, Peter, nor anyone else, looked as if they wanted to dash off and find them. Everyone looked sad. Some were even crying.

"Peter, what happened?" Adie asked, that sinking feeling in her stomach coming up again.

"Adie, come with me."

Adie bit her lip and followed Peter a few yards away where the crowd was gathered. People looked back at her sadly and moved out of her way. She only gave them confused looks and followed Peter quickly to the center of the crowd.

Kneeling down next to a body covered in dark blood was the doctor. He looked up and then stood up. "I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head and walking away.

Adie's eyes followed him and then they shot back down to the body.

Molly.

**-Somewhere in the Jungle-**

"You guys, we need to bloody stop."

Charlie's hair was beaded with sweat, and his face was red and blotchy. He, Kate and Sawyer were in the middle of the jungle. He didn't know where they were going, but Kate seemed to know.

When they didn't say anything to him, he stopped himself and nearly collapsed against a tree. Sawyer and Kate were ahead of him, but they seemed to know he had stopped so they stopped as well and wearily walked back to where he was.

"Charlie, we can't just stop," Kate said, out of breath. "We have no idea if they're coming or not."

"I have a pretty good feeling they're not!" Charlie nearly yelled at her. "I just shot one of them, and she was a bloody girl!"

Sawyer glared at him and tossed his backpack on the ground. "Haven't we gone over this? They could care less about anything or anyone. Sure, your girlfriend was different, but how do we even know that wasn't a set up? Her letting us go?"

"She didn't set us up!" Charlie yelled, standing up straight. "How could you say that about her after she risked her life to get us out of there?!"

Sawyer smirked slightly and Kate glared at him.

"You guys stay here, I'm going off the 'path' a little to see if there's any food," Charlie said, walking away from them. In reality, he just wanted to get away from Sawyer.

Kate didn't stop him; she just glared at Sawyer who raised his eyebrows at her. She sighed and picked up her backpack, moving to follow Charlie.

"Hey…" Sawyer said gently. "I'm sorry." She stopped. "You know I was just messing with him."

Kate bit her bottom lip. "Why would you say something like that, though? And to him."

She could see the guilt on his face. "I'm just stressed," Sawyer admitted with a shrug. "That's how I've always gotten my stress out."

"Being a jerk?"

"…Yeah."

Kate smiled a little stiffly bur recovered quickly from Sawyer's remarks. She sat down in the grass by the tree. "I hope he comes back pretty soon. I probably shouldn't have let him go like that."

Sawyer shrugged and sat down next to her. "He'll be back soon."

* * *

Charlie knew he would have to hurry back, but he honestly didn't think they'd be coming for them anytime soon. He had just shot one of them, and it was a girl. And she had seemed to be well liked, judging by the expressions he saw back at their camp.

He didn't know anything about her, but he wondered if she meant anything to Adie.

The trees were bare around the area they were in. No fruit at all. Not even a sign that the trees were even fruit trees.

He eventually gave up and hurried back to Kate and Sawyer, who were up on their feet right when they saw him.

"Sorry," said a little dryly, like Kate had talked him into saying it.

Charlie shrugged. "Never mind, lets get going."

**-Near the Others' Hatch-**

Tears sprung freely from Adie's eyes as she ran back to the hatch. No one bothered to stop her.

She threw herself on the small cot that she had spent most of her time on during the time Charlie and the others were there. She sobbed in the pillow that already smelled like unwashed clothes.

Perhaps hours went by, but she didn't keep track. All she could remember was Molly's blood-splattered face with a look of pure horror plastered on it from her last moment. All she could feel was her heaving chest against the uncomfortable cot every time she let out a sob.

She suddenly felt a hand rest on the small of her back and she rolled over quickly and sat up, propping up her body with her elbows. Peter sat on the edge of the cot, a look of sadness on his usually serious face.

"Oh, Peter…" Adie whimpered, throwing her arms around him and sobbing onto his shirt like a baby. Peter wrapped his arms around her, trying to be of some comfort to her. "Peter, who did it?" she whispered into his shoulder.

"That Charlie Pace," Peter answered. For all Peter knew, Charlie was nothing to her and she was nothing to him.

Adie pulled away from Peter, her eyes wide and her lips parted in shock.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Peter asked, confused.

Adie quickly tried to catch herself, but didn't do a good job of it. "He never seemed like the type to hurt anyone like that," she said in between brief sobs.

"They're all the same, Adie," Peter said soothingly. "Sun, the Korean girl – even she would've done something like that, even though it doesn't seem possible. Charlie didn't care who Molly's death hurt, he just cared about himself."

This made Adie sob harder. Peter's sad face morphed back into his usual serious one.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Adie. Right now, he isn't feeling any guilt."

**-The Beach-**

"You ready, Libby?" Hurley asked, grabbing her bags out of the sand.

"I'm waiting on Sun," Libby answered. "We're going to walk with her."

A few people had already started off for the caves, but a majority were saying goodbye to the people leaving for the Others' camp. Jack and Ana were two of the few that had already left.

Sun kissed Jin good-bye and they talked for a few minutes in Korean quickly. They kissed again and Sun walked over to Libby and Hurley. Her eyes looked a little watery, but she looked happy for the most part. After all, she had a baby growing inside her.

Claire walked up next, Aaron in her arms. She looked a little sad as she watched the people move out into the jungle.

"You ok?" Libby asked, worried.

Claire shook her head slightly. "I was so mean to him…"

Hurley raised his eyebrows. "What're you talking about?"

"Charlie," Claire answered with an exhausted sigh. "The last thing I said to him was that I was afraid of him. And now he might be dead."

"Hey, don't worry about Charlie," Hurley said reassuringly.

Claire laughed slightly. "It's not like…we're a couple or something. But he's still my friend…sort of." She was beginning to come to terms with what Charlie had done to her and Aaron. It wasn't right, but she couldn't be mad at him forever. All the things he had done to help her went way over all the things he had done to hurt her. "I just want him to come back so we can make up and be friends again."

"He'll be back," Hurley said. "For now, lets worry about getting to the caves with everyone else."

Upon arriving at the caves, there was much commotion. People were walking around hurriedly, looking in caves. Hurley looked at Libby, confused, and walked up to a man who looked particularly worried.

"What's going on?" Hurley asked.

"No one can find Jack and the Latino woman," he answered.

Hurley blinked. Where the hell would they be?

"So?" Hurley said with a slight shrug, trying to keep everyone calm. "They're not allowed to walk? They'll be back soon."

Most people didn't look so sure, but a few people settled down and talked quietly amongst themselves.

Hurley turned to Libby. "Ana say anything to you about leaving?"

"No," Libby answered, shaking her head. "I don't know where they could be…maybe just getting supplies from the hatch."

"They better be…" Hurley said. "These people don't stay sane long without Jack."

**-Somewhere in the Jungle-**

"What's that?" Sawyer hissed, his voice suddenly lowering to a whisper.

Kate heard it too and threw herself onto the ground behind a section of trees. Sawyer did likewise behind a different section.

Charlie stopped where he was. "What?" he asked urgently. Kate waved him down where she was and he kneeled down next to her behind the trees.

Kate sat up cautiously. "Listen."

Charlie was quiet. And then he heard it – twigs snapping, leaves crunching, hushed voices whispering words he couldn't make out.

"Oh, bloody hell…" he whispered, sucking in his breath. He had thought they wouldn't come this soon. He reached for his gun, but stopped himself. He didn't want to even consider using his gun at this point.

"How far away are they?" he asked Kate.

"Close enough for us to hear them, but far away enough for us to not see them and they won't see us, either."

Charlie laughed slightly under his breath. "Wow, that's kinda scary that you know that."

"Shhh," Kate warned. "I'm not exactly sure."

"Oh, well, that's great."

Sawyer crawled over to where they were. Charlie looked at him in mild amusement. "You don't have to crawl, they're like…not even close."

Sawyer started to snap back, but Kate shot them both a glare and they quieted down. They waited for some time until they couldn't hear the rustling any longer.

"Why were they walking toward their own camp?" Sawyer asked, once it was safe.

"Maybe they gave up on looking for us," Charlie said hopefully.

"How did we not hear them the first time?" Sawyer said, raising an eyebrow.

Kate shook her head. "Let's not worry about that right now. Let's just worry about getting back to the camp for now."

* * *

"No one's even here."

Kate, Sawyer and Charlie stared at the deserted beach in amazement. There were footprints everywhere and the tarp from the tents blew absently in the chilly breeze.

Reasons why they weren't there flew through Kate's mind. They were rescued. They all moved to the caves. The Others did something…

Kate shook her head. "I'm going to the hatch to check on the button," she said decisively. "Sawyer, you go to the caves. Charlie, stay here."

Sawyer didn't question anything and darted off to the caves. Kate began to run to the hatch.

Charlie sat down in the sand. He was a little afraid, but he was more afraid for Adie. What if they found out what she had done? Would they hurt her?

He hated leaving her there. But he wasn't about to turn into some madly in love cruel, evil person and drag her back to the beach against her will. He could only wait and see what would happen now.

* * *

Sawyer ran into the cave area, exhausted. And there was everyone…looking as they usually did. Heads turned, and eventually the whole group of people was staring at him in silence.

Sawyer laughed tiredly. "Great to see you all too!"

Hurley ran up. "Sawyer, where're Kate and Charlie?!"

Sawyer snorted. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks so much for asking."

Hurley stared at him, waiting for an answer to his question.

"Well, Kate dashed off to the hatch to check on that button and Charlie's sitting on the beach alone," Sawyer answered. He paused. "Where the hell is the other half of you?"

Hurley explained the story to him quickly. Sawyer's eyes widened. "Shouldn't someone go stop them since we're kind of back now?"

"They're probably already too far for us to catch up…" Hurley said.

"That's bull shit," Sawyer grumbled. He was about to say something else, but stopped. "I'm going to go get Kate. Someone go get Charlie." He got up and walked back into the woods.

Claire stood up and handed Aaron to Sun. "I'll go get Charlie." Before anyone stopped her, she left.

**-Outside the Hatch-**

Kate threw open the steel doors to the hatch and ran down to the second door. She fumbled with the door knob and looked through the glass into the main living area of the hatch. What she saw made her hand stop twisting the knob.

Inside, on the couch, Jack was talking to Ana with a smile on his face. She smiled back. They exchanged a few words before they began to slowly kiss. Kate took a step back in shock and clasped her hand over her mouth.

But she wasn't going to let it get to her. She would just leave and go back to Sawyer.

They seemed to have the button issue under control.

**

* * *

**

"Charlie!"

Charlie looked up and saw Claire walking quickly toward him. He jumped up and walked up to greet her. They hugged awkwardly and he immediately pulled away. "Claire, where's everyone else?"

"At the caves," she answered. "Charlie, there's people out there going to get you, Sawyer and Kate…" Claire said. "They're going to the Others' camp."

"What?!" Charlie exclaimed. "Someone needs to stop them!"

Claire looked at him, confused. "Why? If they kill them off, we won't have to worry about them."

"Someone might get hurt," Charlie responded. He didn't mean anyone from their group.. They looked out for each other. He meant Adie. And the Others wouldn't be looking out for her.

"No one can stop them quickly enough now…" Claire said, worry lining her voice.

"I'll go," Charlie said. "Tell everyone I went out to stop them, and I'll be ok."

"You can't do that!" Claire exclaimed fearfully.

"Yes, I can. And I am."

Claire looked up at him, defeated. "Be careful."

"I will. Don't worry about me." He started off.

"Hey, Charlie?" Claire called after him.

He stopped. "Yes?" He was in a rush now.

"Remember when I said I could be friends with you later?" Claire asked.

He nodded slightly.

"I think it's later now," she smiled.

"I'm glad, Claire," he said smiling back at her before running off.

Charlie wasn't exactly going to stop the group migrating toward the camp. He was going to pass them, warn Adie, get her out of there and then let his friends take care of the rest of the Others. It was a battle of time, though. And he had to be sure he wasn't late.

**-LOST-**

A/N: Woooah. Oh goodness, what's going to happen? And I know we're going to get this in reviews…no, Claire isn't all lovey over Charlie again. They will not be an item in this story! They are simply friends, because I didn't want to leave that end of the story all bitter and such. Kiss will be writing the next chapter!!

**Review Responses for Chapter 17 (by CharliesHoodie):**

**4EverLOST** - Romeo and Juliet is one of my favorites! I feel sorry for Adie, too. It's very much an R and J situation, but almost worse. But I highly doubt this will end in suicide…or will it? I'll have to read back over to see where Hurley was being mean. It's amazing how easily I forget stuff. Maybe because Kiss is writing the last chapter now… gasp! Yes, that's right. She's writing the last chapter. But no worries, you still have a lot more to read. You think I have better grammar than SHAKESPEARE???? It may be hard to read, but the way he uses his words is AMAZING. It's very classy. And nowadays, yeah, it's a pain to read, but it's so beautiful that it makes up for stopping every two seconds to translate. Oh goodness, that was a long response.

**Mystery Island** – You don't like tragic love stories? Oh…you're missing out on some great stuff…I'm sorry…go read Romeo and Juliet! It's nice and tragic. Or, if you don't like Shakespeare, get the movie. Yeah, they still do their Shakespearean lingo, but I guess it's easier to watch than read. I love tragic love stories. They depress me, and I always want the end to turn out different, but they never do…and that's why they're so good. Hmmm…to be a tragedy, one of the main luhvers has to bite the dust. Yes, that's right…another one bites the dust. Sorry, Queen. BUT, will Adie or Charlie or Kate or Sawyer or Jack or Ana die? Will ANYONE die? Hmmm… …I love messing with you guys.

**Jimmy-Barnes-13** – Yeah, Charlie and Adie are definitely the cutest couple, but Kate and Sawyer are pretty close. Thank you very much for the review, Jims! You probably give us the most reviews, and you're really cool for that. And I feel bad for giving you the shortest response. Sorry.

**Xlostangelx** – Yay Chadie! When we first introduced Adie, we had a little description of her. We're also working on another one of her for future chapters, so don't worry. To jog your memory, she has long dark hair. She has green eyes, or blue-green eyes. One of those. She's short. Oh, and of course she's pretty. In that natural way. I'm guessing the Others can't really wear makeup around the survivors until they get home to their cozy two story houses. So yes, she's very pretty in that natural I-have-to-pretend-I-don't-take-real-baths way. Think of Alex, or better yet Kate. Both are gorgeous, and Kate didn't take a shower until the second season. And was she still beautiful? Yes she was.

**Review Responses for Chapter 18 (by kissbangx3):**

**Jimmy-barnes-13: **Aww, thank you, we like made-up awards. And of course drama.

**Mystery Island: **Here it is! Of course you're sorry for Adie… she's not exactly living a very happy life right now… oh well. Thank you!

We love reviews, always!


	20. Be With You

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Be With You-

_by kissbangx3_

_A/N: Sorry about taking so long, everyone!! I should be back on track, so updates will be quicker, but thanks for waiting. You didn't have a choice, exactly, but hopefully you're still reading. Anyway, oh, the drama! Awesome last chapter, eh? Okay, here's the follow-up._

**-Near the Others' Camp-**

Charlie's breathing was obviously heavy. He couldn't help it; he was nervous. He hadn't seen the survivor's group of explorers yet, and he was almost at the camp. If he was too late, and they had already shot Adie…

He shook his head. He couldn't begin to comprehend what he would do if Adie was killed. Not only was he in love with her and wanted so much more for her than life on the island, he was also convinced that she was their only chance of defeating—or even just _understanding_—the mysterious Others. Charlie had spent weeks inside their hatch, imprisoned, and he knew nothing about them, except that the guy they used to have captive was actually their leader.

_Focus, Charlie, _he told himself grimly, and he got up again. Darting from bush to bush in case there were stray guards anywhere nearby, he tried to make his way to the camp while varying his direction. His original plan had been to warn Adie, but now he just wanted to stop his own people. If they decided to give it up and kill women and children, too, and they shot Adie, he'd never be able to forgive himself or anyone else.

But by the time he could see their camp, he had a sinking feeling that he was too late. No one was anywhere, not even guards, and it appeared deserted. He didn't see dead bodies or abandoned guns, but he had a feeling that if he kept walking, he would.

His heart was pounding, and he didn't know what to do. Ever since he'd landed on the island, all he had felt was worry and strain, but all of it put together was nothing compared to the elevated feeling he was experiencing now. He wasn't sure what to think or make out, but he was sure that it wasn't good. Was Adie really gone? Were the Others really gone? Were they to live their lives in peace now, or were those Others just minor people, and there were other camps in other places filled with evil people tainting young minds?

And what if they'd convinced Adie to join their side again? What if they'd handed her a gun and told her it was to avenge her parents' deaths somehow, and she decided to fight back despite her relationship with Charlie, and she was shot?

And if she wasn't dead, would she kill him? She had to have found out about Molly… oh, God, what if that provoked her? What if she stopped feeling anything for him when she found out what he did to her friend?

"Charlie!"

His head snapped around and he jumped up. He couldn't believe it. There, in the beautiful and glowing flesh, was the very topic of his thoughts. Not Molly, of course, but Adie was kneeling beside him.

"Adie!" he nearly shouted, exhaling with delighted disbelief. "My bloody God, I thought you were dead! You're alive, I'm so glad you're alive…" His smile widened as he grabbed her and hugged her, relief flooding through him.

She shook him off with a hard, robotic manner. "Get off of me," she muttered coldly. "I should kill you, you know."

He laughed. "Yeah, but you're not going to. I'm so sodding glad you're alive! Have they gotten to your camp yet? You know they're coming, right? This whole big crew…"

"I can't believe you shot Molly," she said, ignoring his happiness and matching it with stone-hard incivility. "You killed my best friend."

"I know, and I'm so incredibly sorry for that, but see, you're alive, so none of it really matters." He was beaming, probably glowing. Not only was she alive and well, but he could see her again! He'd been sure that their last parting would be permanent, or at least very long, but here she was already.

"So Molly's death doesn't matter?" she demanded. "That's it, Charlie. I knew they were right about you. Of course they didn't want you. You're so self-centered. You only want what's right for you." She looked at him with a mixture of sadness, arrogance, and wistfulness. "I can't believe I loved you."

He wasn't going to lie; her words hurt. But the fact that she was alive, that she was breathing… He wasn't going to waste a minute of this. He grabbed her and pulled her in for a kiss. She kissed him back for a few slow, passionate seconds before yanking her head away.

"_Charlie!_" she shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you? _You shot Molly_!"

He nodded. "I know, I can't get it off of my conscience… the fact that I took a girl's life away…" His voice finally slowed, and the original guilt of murder was back upon him. "So she's really dead?"

"You knew that, didn't you?" she asked. "When you shot her. You didn't bother shooting a foot or a hand, of course. I can't believe I gave you that gun. I might as well have shot her myself."

"But, Adie," he said, looking back up at her. "You're alive. And we're together again, already."

She blinked at him, tears in her eyes but not falling. She was persistent, and obviously wanted to be mad. It was the right thing to do for her, being mad, because she didn't think she'd be able to avenge her friend's death. But his delight and happiness, mixed with his warm hug and his soft, amazing kiss, were pretty hard to ignore. How could she kill him when she had to admit she was still completely in love with him?

"Look at us," she finally said, a lot more softly. "We're so screwed up, it's pathetic."

"I think," Charlie objected, "it's rather beautiful. Like from one of your stories. Or maybe a poem."

"I'm not your bloody Annabelle Lee, Charlie," Adie groaned, but the anger was gone and she said it with a touch of humor. She wasn't British, never was, so the fact that she used "bloody" counted for something.

He smiled. "See? Beautiful. Nothing pathetic about it. We even have a poem, which in my opinion works just as well as us having a song. Which we also do, if you don't remember—have a song, that is. Frankly, we're the perfect couple."

She remembered. All she'd been able to think about since he left were two things: what an idiot she was for giving the guns, and then that stupid song. _Waterloo Sunset _was an amazing song, actually, and by no means stupid; it was the fact that it wouldn't get out of her head, ever, and that she had to play it over and over again, and how miserable it made her to think of how much she loved the guy who her "family" hated, who had murdered both her best friend and a distant member (Ethan, of course), and who had shot several others. What kind of a relationship did they have?

But maybe he was right. A beautiful one.

"I knew you'd warm up to it," he said, grinning.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving," she said shortly. "And this doesn't mean I'm not mad at you. You don't get to play the relationship card to get out of murdering my friend, you know. It's disgusting."

He smiled hopefully at her. She shook her head and left, but a small grin was still pulling at her lips. Then again, a huge hole was pulling at her heart, because whether or not she was with Charlie, Molly was still gone.

Now she was torn to a whole new degree.

**-The Hatch-**

"Was someone at the door?" Ana asked, pulling back from Jack instinctively.

He turned sharply to the door, but when he saw that there was no one there, he immediately turned back to look at her. "Ana," he said, "we should talk about this." Their faces were still close, and Jack still felt the touch of her lips on his, but he wasn't about to lean any closer forward until they had this resolved.

"If you want to forget about it, I get it," Ana said calmly.

"Why would I want to forget about it?" he asked, honestly wondering. He didn't want her to think that way. He wasn't exactly proud of himself, and he couldn't at all say that his feelings for Kate were washed out, but he'd been more than willing to kiss Ana.

She looked at him for a second, looking nervous and hesitant. Finally, completely changing the subject, she said, "I met Sarah."

Jack stared at her before falling back onto the couch and crossing his arms. He stared numbly at the opposite wall before slowly turning back to her and asking, in a bold and clear voice, "What?"

"Sarah, your wife. That was your wife, right? Oh, I met Christian, too."

He continued to stare at her.

"And I let Henry go," she said very quickly, not sure if she should but figuring there was nothing more to lose. The one thing she was keeping to herself, though, was Sawyer. She wasn't telling _anyone _about Sawyer.

"_What_?" he yelled.

"Which one do you want to hear about more?" she asked just as slowly.

"Uh…" He looked more stressed than she'd ever seen him before. She wasn't surprised, but she had to get this out. "Uh, Sarah," he finally said, nervously. "And my dad."

"Okay… I met your dad at a bar, told him I was an ex-cop, and he hired me as a bodyguard. He flew me to Sydney, and I wasn't ever actually his bodyguard, but I went to the house that he needed guarding from. I wasn't told what was going on, he came back, and he left. Leaving me with the car. Naturally I went back to the house, told them I was a cop, and asked if I was a help. Blonde chick told me I should get her a restraining order from Christian, so I did. I talked to Sarah, blonde chick's daughter, about her life and her wonderful old ex-husband." She said it all in a rush, wanting to get it over with, and avoided Jack's eyes until it was over. Finally she turned back to him. His expression wasn't anything near happy.

"And you never thought it'd be decent to tell me, I guess?" he finally asked.

"I just didn't know how," she said quietly. "Okay? And there's more, but I'm only telling you if you think you can handle it, which you probably can't, and you'll be mortified and shocked, and you'll probably never speak to me again."

"Probably not," he agreed, "but you owe it to me to tell me."

She didn't say anything.

"Ana," he said urgently, "I have the right to know, don't I?" Even now he was desperate to understand what had happened with him and Sarah. He'd always known it was more than just his overtime and her cheating on him, but what?

"First I'm going to tell you about Henry," she said. "Then I'm going to tell you about Sarah, then I'm going to run out of the hatch, and you can follow once you give me a five or ten minute head start. We'll meet at the caves, talk to everyone, and come back in time to push the button. Okay?"

He continued staring at her and forming short sentences. "Okay."

"Okay." She sighed. "I came downstairs, planning on killing Henry, and I couldn't. Couldn't pull the trigger, couldn't bring myself to kill." Her voice was finally slowing down, giving her body a chance to catch up. "He was pitying me, I could tell. He knew I wouldn't kill him. Once I lowered my gun, he asked me in this—this _desperate_ voice—to free him. I didn't believe I would for a second, but somehow I thought…" She was way too slow now, almost boringly so if it wasn't such an enticing explanation. "…I thought that, if I did, somehow that would make amends," she said. "For killing Goodwin, who you don't even know, and especially for killing Shannon. It doesn't make any sense, and I was helping the enemy, but I just wanted to let someone go, to have someone be thankful to me… to do something good."

"That wasn't _good_, Ana," Jack said in shock. "That was the worst _possible _thing you could do."

"The action was good, even if the result wasn't," she said. "I was freeing someone from torture, from pain, from suffering. That was all I could think about. I didn't process that he was evil, and that he was an Other, and that I was giving him back to them."

Again Jack was silent. Appalled, and furious, but silent.

"And Jack?" she added, looking back at him. Her dark eyes were clouded with sorrow and loss, and obvious regret, but they weren't the key factors in the darkness that surrounded her big eyes. It was confusion, complete and utter unknowingness, and a sense of displacement in the world. After everything she had done and everything she knew she was destined to do, whether she wanted to or not, she didn't have a place, or a time, or anything else. Her fleeting kiss with Jack had been just that: fleeting. It was one time when someone wanted her there, and as soon as she uttered her next two words, his want for her would disappear, and he wouldn't ever trust her again.

"Sarah's pregnant."

**-The Caves-**

"Well," Sawyer said, wrinkling his nose. "I don't know who I feel more sorry for."

Kate laughed, but she was still completely freaked out. She had told Sawyer about the kiss she witnessed, but his response wasn't helping. She wanted to admit to him that she still felt something for Jack, but he wasn't making it easy.

"So that doesn't make you feel… weird?" Kate asked. "At all?"

He shrugged. "I never had a thing for Ana Lucia"—quite a bit of a lie, considering their fling, but he wasn't about to tell Kate that—"and I'm definitely not queer for Dr. Jack, so I'd say no, they can exchange tongues all they want." He grinned at her. "Which, by the way, I wouldn't mind doing, either."

She gave him a serious look. "Sawyer."

"Okay," he said, raising his hands in defeat. "You wanted me to become the crazy jealous boyfriend? All you had to do was ask."

Kate sighed. "I don't want you to be jealous, Sawyer, but I want to talk about it. Is that too much to ask, to _talk _to you about something rather than… physically converse?"

"Hey," he said. "I talk to you all the time about us. I'd say we're pretty damn close to a normal couple, 'sides the island thing and all."

She frowned. The sad thing was, he was probably right: they did talk enough. They evaluated their relationship every few days, they kissed plenty, and it was just what Kate wanted… and yet nothing like it at all. Every time she kissed him, every time he called her Freckles, or even every time he just looked at her in that deep, meaningful way, she felt a huge spark in her chest, a different kind of spark than she'd ever felt for Jack. And she knew she wanted it. But their relationship felt pressed and automatic, and neither of them had had a chance to be anything of a romantic.

"Okay," he said, "I know what you're thinking."

She looked at him again, waiting for him to continue.

He shrugged and looked around, his eyes settling on a very happy looking pair, Hurley and Libby, blankets in hands. "Looks like our cute little island's first couple rolled back in from a picnic," he said, looking back at her. "Why don't we give it a try? I'll rave jealous remarks about Doc, you can analyze or relationship, we can talk, and there might be some time afterwards…"

She grinned and followed him to Hurley and Libby, who gladly offered their blankets and leftovers. They took the things to a more secluded area of the caves, spread out the blankets, and talked. Talking led to laughing, and laughing led to kissing, and as much fun as they were having, nothing was cleared up. Because Kate didn't know about Ana, and Sawyer didn't know about Jack.

One, however, was a lot worse than the other.

**-Just Outside the Caves-**

"Ana!" Jack shouted. "Just hold on for one second."

Ana slowed from a run to a power walk, and finally to a slow walk, like a horse changing gaits. She cautiously turned around. "I said I'm sorry, okay, Jack? Unless you're about to forgive me, I don't really want to stick around."

"Look," he said. "With the situation we've got ourselves in, it's going to be really hard to forget about it."

She shrugged. "Yeah, probably." She looked impatient to leave and yet desperate for his forgiveness, as if she'd definitely stick around to wait for it.

"But I'm willing to try," he added, looking back at her. "I'm glad you finally told me the truth, even if I didn't know what I was missing. And I can't believe you held it from me all that time, but there are a lot of people who are going to need me when they get back from what they're doing, and I need you with me."

"_Me_?" she asked. "Jack, I'm an ex-cop, not an ex-doc."

"That's not why I need you," he said quietly.

**-Near the Others' Camp-**

"We're almost there," Sayid said, glancing at the camp. Luckily there were no stray guards to alert anyone to the small group's presence, but it wouldn't have mattered. There were enough armed survivors to create a majority, at least for a while.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Eko asked. He had come with them, and had made his way to the front, where he was trying to help give commands while still begging people to be peaceful. He didn't want them to make the same mistakes he did. "I strongly suggest that you do not kill."

"We will not kill women or children," Sayid assured him. "I wouldn't think of it."

"That is not enough," Eko said persistently. "We cannot kill, _period._"

"Sorry, Mr. Eko," Locke said, "but this is war, and if we want to survive, we need to do what must be done."

"And that is?"

Locke shrugged and tapped his gun. "To kill whoever we need to."

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Since we're behind, we figured we'd skip responses at least for this chapter, but we still appreciate everything! I'm back on track now, so hopefully chapters'll come every week now. Hopefully. Reviews always help!!_

_Only 6 chapters left!_

_Reviews welcome!_

_-kissbangx3_


	21. The Dogs of War

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-The Dogs of War-

_By_ _CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: Who else is bloody PUMPED for this chapter? I am! I'm so excited! That last sentence of chapter 20 was like "WOW." So enjoy!_

**-LOST-**

**-The Others' Camp-**

Obviously, the Others were still alive and well.

Right when Adie walked away from him, he followed her. He was so caught up in that moment with her, he had forgotten all about dragging her out of this place and to safety away from the Flight 815 survivors.

He then immediately stopped where he was, looking shocked and scared. Before Adie showed up and completely distracted him, his focus was to stop his people from coming in the camp.

"Bloody _hell," _he said aloud.

Adie turned around. "I could use more colorful words to describe this situation, actually."

Charlie was panicked now. "No, love, you don't understand…" he muttered. He looked around quickly and then turned back to her. "We've got to go somewhere where they won't see us, Adie. I need to talk to you and it has to be quick."

Adie was about to protest. She hesitated, but when she saw the fear in Charlie's eyes, her own eyes softened and she lead him to the hatch that was way too familiar for them both.

"No one comes in here anymore," Adie said, running her hand along the back of the sofa and sitting down in it.

Charlie sat next to her urgently. He moved to take her hands in his, but she pulled hers away and gave him one of her "looks."

Charlie closed his eyes briefly, recovering from what she had just done. "Adie, my friends…they're coming here. I left the beach to come for you. I just couldn't stand being without you…" he looked into her eyes to see if they held any sympathy.

If they did, she was a really good actress.

He let out a short laugh and wiped away a few stray tears. "Adie, don't you understand? You mean everything to me. When I was running here…I didn't know what I was going to find. I changed my plan to come here immediately to just finding my friends and stopping them. And then I found you…don't you see how bloody distracting you are?"

Adie looked down at her lap. She didn't know what to do anymore. "What will they do? When they get here?"

"Who knows?" Charlie said, throwing his arms in the air. "Everyone argues in our group. I honestly don't know. They could kill everyone in sight, or they could simply take charge without hurting anyone."

Adie looked terrified now. She still wasn't sure about her family, but she knew if they were all dead while Charlie kept her safe, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"Charlie, you have to go and stop them _now."_

"I don't think I can now, love," he said, fear and hurt in his voice. "Just me by myself…they're probably so close by now…I wouldn't be able to…"

With that, he broke down unexpectedly. It was so random that Adie sat on her side of the couch and stared at him. She had seen him cry, but never _sob. _She stood up, shaky and shocked, and paced around the room, feeling like crying herself.

When she could hardly stand seeing his shoulders heave up and down and his whole body quivering, she quickly went over to the old record player and put on Waterloo Sunset. The soft, pretty lyrics sung out lightly through the room.

"Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, flowing into the night…" Adie song softly to herself. She stopped and looked over at Charlie. He was still crying, as if he hadn't even noticed the song playing.

She quickly sat down with him again, closer now. She took his hands and squeezed them tightly and he cried a little harder.

"Charlie, please stop…" she nearly begged. "I can't stand seeing you like this."

"Adie," he whispered, finally calming down a little. "I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry. I never wanted this to get so out of hand. I never wanted to kill Molly, I never wanted them to come here…I never wanted to fall in love."

He didn't mean the last part to sound as bad as it did, and Adie knew that.

"I'm pretty bloody glad you did, Charlie," she said, emphasizing "bloody" and making him smile through his tears. "Because I wouldn't be the person I am now without you."

Charlie smiled and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. He didn't have to kiss her this time, even though just looking at her wasn't enough for him. She took care of that.

They shared a deep, passionate kiss. It didn't go as long as either of them would've liked because of the current situation. Charlie was the first to pull away reluctantly.

"Adie, I have to get you out of here."

Adie looked away, pretending she didn't hear him. It was childish, but she just couldn't leave her family.

_But Terry and Julie_

_Cross over the river_

_Where they feel safe and sound._

_And they don't need no friends._

_As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset_

_They are in paradise._

How appropriate.

But it really wasn't true.

Charlie knew Adie wasn't about to leave the Others willingly, and Adie knew that for the most part, he trusted his friends.

"Adie, please," he pleaded.

Apparently, they had taken too much time.

The first gun shot rung out.

**-The Caves-**

No one heard the start of the fight from the caves.

But they were all just as nervous about the situation, though most of them didn't show it.

Jack and Ana came back from the Hatch, hand in hand. Both had tired but happy looks on their faces, as if a lot of hard stuff had been let out but things had turned out ok in the end.

People looked shocked to see them as they were, but they didn't mention anything. Instead, everyone looked relieved that their two protectors had returned from wherever it was they had been.

Except Kate.

She could've used a little more time away from them.

She found herself meeting Jack's eyes briefly before tearing away from his look and trying to tune back in to the story Sawyer was telling her that she hadn't been paying much attention to in the first place. She hurriedly laughed at a part that sounded funny and glanced in Jack's direction. He looked a little hurt, but not too deeply moved.

If he only knew how she was feeling right now.

For the sake of getting even, she flirted with Sawyer lightly and kissed him teasingly, catching him a little off guard, as he was the one who was usually trying to charm her into things. Kate glanced at where Jack was again, but he had his back to her and was talking to someone, Ana still at his side.

She looked flustered, but Sawyer didn't say anything.

Then Jack walked over to where Sawyer and Kate were. She quickly grabbed his hand. It was a sign to Sawyer, saying: "You're who I want" but also I sign for Jack, as well. And she wasn't too sure on what she was trying to tell him.

"Kate, Sawyer…I'm glad you're back," he said honestly, kneeling down next to them. "I didn't mean to seem like a horrible person when I left you there, but I had to get back here and help everyone."

Kate nodded slightly and Sawyer smirked.

Jack sighed, knowing he couldn't really make up for what had happened back at the Others' camp. "Where's Charlie?"

"We left him," Sawyer said.

Jack's eyes widened.

"At the _beach," _Kate said, shooting Sawyer a glare. "We weren't sure where everyone was, so we had him stay there just in case."

"Claire's out getting him now," Sawyer said.

On cue, Claire walked out of the jungle. Jack, Sawyer and Kate looked up, waiting for Charlie to come out after her. But he never did.

Jack stood and walked up to her. "Hey, Claire, where's Charlie?"

Claire looked a little frightened, as if she wasn't sure if she should say what she knew.

"Claire?" Kate said, standing up.

"He…he went out to stop Locke and the others," Claire said uncertainly. "He said…he doesn't want anyone getting hurt…"

Jack looked puzzled. Since when was Charlie so involved?

"He meant our people…Locke, Sayid. He didn't mean the Others," Claire said, shaking her head.

Sawyer snorted, and Claire and Jack turned to look at him.

"What?" Jack asked.

"You've got a lot of catching up to do, Doc…"

**-The Others' Hatch-**

Adie had never felt so terrified in her life.

She didn't scream when she heard the gun shot, but cringed and clasped a hand over her mouth. Charlie jumped and let out a slight shriek.

"Adie," he said, his voice shaking. "Please, come with me. Please…" He reached out and grabbed her arm. He was getting to the point where if he had to drag her away kicking and screaming, he would if it meant saving her life.

Adie didn't move. Her muscles tensed when Charlie grabbed her and she gave him a warningly look. He looked at her apologetically.

"Adie, I swear to God, _they will hurt you. _If I leave you, and they come in here, and they see you…you might get lucky if it's someone like Eko, but if Locke, or…" he shook his head. "Even if I was here…they wouldn't do anything to me obviously, but you…"

"I'm not leaving!" she said, her mind set.

The door rattled.

"Adie!" Charlie screamed.

A few bullets were shot into the door. This time, Adie screamed.

"Hey!" Locke yelled from outside of the door. There were a few forceful kicks. Then they heard the door cave in.

A pure look of horror shot across Adie's face, but she still wasn't going to move. If her people were going to die here, so was she.

But Charlie wasn't going to let her do that to herself. He grabbed her and drug her toward the back way. She screamed at him and gave him a few rough hits to the face, but he tried to ignore it as he pulled her around a corner.

Locke saw them move around the corner, but didn't recognize Charlie. He shot at their forms, but the corner blocked the bullets.

Eko ran in right away. "John!" he yelled. "There was a woman!"

Locke charged around the corner. "I couldn't even see _who_ it was."

But when he turned the corner, there was no one there.

* * *

Charlie had succeeded in getting her out of the hatch, but now he knew it was going to get more difficult.

He wanted to run into the woods behind the hatch, but the island was huge. He would get lost, and he couldn't risk that. He was going to have to run to the main area of the camp, get through that mess, and get to the area that he knew well.

Of course, that would be even harder with Adie trying to kill him the whole way.

He ran _toward _the gunshots, half carrying, half dragging Adie who was completely hysterical – beating on him, yelling at him, sobbing. He bit his lip and stopped at the edge of the jungle.

Spread out before him was the Others' camp. He saw all of his friends there, on the other side of the clearing, firing in Charlie and Adie's direction at the Others. He pulled Adie with him behind a tree and sat her down against it. He didn't even bother to tell her not to move. She pulled her knees up to her chin and sobbed.

Guilt flooded over him and he began to mutter apologies aimlessly. He knelt down next to her and tried to talk to her soothingly, but she ignored him, caught up in her own tragedy.

A bullet skimmed the tree they were behind and Charlie jumped away and Adie covered her head.

"Are you all right?!" he exclaimed.

She didn't say or do anything.

Charlie jerked around and went out in front of the tree. If he could get someone to notice him from the other side, maybe he could get help…

Adie sat behind the tree, listening to all the gunshots. When she looked up, her eyes red and puffy, she saw John Locke charging toward her.

She looked right into his eyes. She had the 'I-don't-care-anymore-just-do-it' look, and that didn't stop Locke.

As she was waiting for him to just _shoot, _Charlie turned back around the tree just in time and saw Locke.

"Locke!" he screamed, stepping in front of Adie.

Locke lowered his gun. "Charlie…you're free…?"

"Yes!" Charlie cried. "Sawyer, Kate and I got back just when you left!"

"Why are you back here, then?!" Locke yelled, confused.

"For her," Charlie answered.

This caught Adie's attention, but she didn't show it.

"You can't bloody shoot her, Locke. It's a lost cause to make everyone else stop this. Everyone screwed up, all right? You all screwed up for coming here to save us when we were already free. The people at the caves screwed up for not stopping you before this happened. _I _screwed up for not finding you first. And I screwed up my relationship with her," he pointed at Adie. "And her life is wrecked now because of this, and I can't do anything to fix it! So I'm not going to let anyone hurt her!"

"They still deserve to be killed, Charlie," Locke said, although he didn't know anything about Adie. But he still didn't look ready to shoot her anytime soon.

"Maybe they do, but not her."

"We're losing this anyway, Charlie," Locke said quietly. "More than half of the men we brought with us are hurt or dead."

Adie looked up, tears in her eyes. Charlie looked shocked.

Locke bit his lip. "We're going to lose this."

"How many of my family are still ok?" Adie asked quietly. Charlie stared down at her.

"Most of them," Locke said, refusing to look at her.

Adie nodded slightly and looked away.

"Adie…" Charlie began.

He was cut off as a shot rang out particularly close to them. Adie screamed and Charlie threw his body over her. When he got back up, he saw a part of the tree splintered and a hole going deep into its thick bark.

Charlie shivered slightly and looked around for Locke. He was nowhere in sight. Peering around the tree, he saw Locke back over on the 815 survivors' side, helping an injured man.

Charlie was disoriented. He didn't understand how people were moving so fast and how bloody _careless _they were being. He turned back to Adie. "Adie, if-"

Adie was pulled up against Peter, her back against his front. He had a hand clasped over her mouth and a shotgun pressed up under her chin. Adie's bright eyes were wide with fear.

"Let her go, you bastard!" Charlie screamed, moving to attack him. But Peter warned him by pressing the gun harder against Adie and taking a step back. Charlie stopped.

"What are you bloody doing?!" Charlie exclaimed.

"If you don't make them stop, Charlie, she dies," Peter said. "You know I'm not going to," Peter whispered in Adie's ear. "You can relax."

But Adie didn't.

"…Why would I care?" Charlie asked shakily.

"Well, if that's the case…" Peter said casually, moving to press the trigger, his finger twitching against it slightly.

"No!" Charlie screamed.

Peter grinned slightly. "You see?"

"Let her go!"

Peter laughed. "Both Adie and I know that I would never hurt her…unless you don't stop them, of course. We're both quite aware you'd do anything for her."

Charlie was actually about to do as Peter said, even though he figured that he'd either get shot before he could do anything, or no one would listen. As he was still contemplating, Peter began to weigh his finger against the trigger.

"Stop that!" Charlie screamed, walking toward him.

A shot rang out all over their area.

Both Adie and Peter fell forward onto the ground, unmoving.

Charlie gasped so hard it made his throat sore and made him feel like throwing up blood. "Adie…" he whispered, still in shock.

He threw Peter off of her. But Adie's weight hadn't pulled him down as he thought.

_Peter _was dead. A shot in the middle of his face.

Charlie nearly threw up, but he pushed Peter aside and pulled Adie up, who was sobbing and still hysterical. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. She was far from being happy with him, but for a moment, she too had thought that Peter had shot her.

"You're welcome, rock star."

Charlie jerked around, Adie still in his arms. Sawyer stood behind him, a 5-millimeter in one hand.

"Sawyer…?"

"We've got this now. They don't have a chance."

Adie's grip on Charlie loosened.

* * *

"Why did the rest of you come?" Locke asked.

Most people on their side were fine except for a few men who had died. Most of their people had been wounded and not killed. Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Ana and a few others had come in from the caves and finished off the rest of the Others when it seemed that Sayid and Locke's team weren't going to make it. Although all the men had been murdered, they had let the women and children leave for wherever they would go.

"Sawyer told us about Charlie and that Other girl," Jack answered. "We didn't think things would run over too smoothly with him here trying to save her, so we decided to come and work things out since you guys here didn't know about it."

"We just didn't want someone to get hurt. If someone had shot Adie, things would've gotten messy," Kate summarized.

Locke turned around. A few yards away, Charlie stood with Adie who was screaming nonsense at him and trying to pull away. He had a strong grip on her arms and was trying to talk to her.

"So, what's the plan now?" Locke asked blankly. "She's one of _them."_

**-LOST-**

A/N: Intense chapter…woah. Next up is Kiss!! 

**Review Responses for Chapter 20 (by kissbangx3):**

**Mystery Island: **So glad you appreciate Kate and Sawyer, even though the show can't make up its mind about them. Anyway, I'm not crazy-obsessed with Charlie any more, so I can see your point of view, but hopefully we did a good job with his character here. Thanks for the review!

**Freckles1230: **No, Sawyer screwed Ana in this story, too. It said so in the beginning. Our timing's a little weird—post-Ana/Sawyer but obviously pre-shooting. Henry got away, but Ana let him go instead of Michael. Thanks!

**Jimmy-barnes-13: **Aww, thank you, thank you, and thank you. One of those chapters, probably the last, is definitely dedicated to you. We'll write it at the top when it's published. (:


	22. Saving Grace

Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own

-Saving Grace-

_by kissbangx3_

_Hi, lovely and dedicated and amazing and beautiful people. I guess all I can say is, SORRY!!!! The slow updating is all on me, not on CharliesHoodie, and I'm the failure, not her): But I hope you like the chapter, and sorry about being so slow._

**-Outside the Others' Camp-**

"'One of them?'" Charlie demanded. "That's how you're going to treat the girl that gave us guns and freed us?"

"It could've been a trick," Locke said. "I don't think we should chance it. Even having one of them alive…"

People—survivors from the crash, of course; pretty much every single Other at this point was dead—were starting to gather around them, and everyone seemed to be thinking what Locke was thinking: she was an Other, therefore she was heartless.

"Hey," Kate interrupted, walking over to them. She didn't look like she was going to take part in the Adie defense yet, but she did have a question. "You didn't get Alex, did you?"

Adie, who was still too shocked and frantic, had gone from screaming fiercely at Charlie to standing, too quiet and distressed to speak. She resembled a schizophrenic at this point, not sure to be mad or sad or scared or happy, but people weren't pitying her.

Still, Adie managed to croak, "Please say she's okay."

Charlie bit his lip, crossing his arms from next to her. He didn't know the answer, but he had a feeling that his fellow survivors had been merciless.

"I did not," Sayid said, speaking up tiredly. "I found her and recognized her as Rousseau's daughter. I sent her in the direction of where I remember her mother's camp to be, and I hope that no one else killed her on her way." Looking tired and depressed, he added, "I will search to make sure she is all right." He left.

Adie exhaled slowly.

"Okay," Charlie said, "so you must not want us to hurt Adie, right?" he asked Sayid. "I mean, if you didn't want to kill Alex, why Adie?"

"Let me ask you something," Locke said. "Are Adie's parents alive?"

Charlie glanced at Adie, but he knew the answer.

"I have faith in Alex because she still has a pull of good for her," Locke explained. "Her mother. Without a parent or loved one, I believe that a child raised by the Others will be come just as merciless as his or her guardians."

"Merciless?" Charlie repeated. "You want merciless? Take a look at your bloody selves!"

"Charlie," Jack warned.

"What about you, huh, Jack? The great big hero?" Charlie was going off on quite a rampage at this point; he was furious about the turnout of his companions. Sure, he needed all the help he could get, and he'd be forever grateful to Sawyer for saving Adie, but there was a limit. Killing women and children, some of which probably weren't born into the family, either?

"Charlie," Kate warned, too, but she went ignored.

"I'm serious, and I know you've noticed it, and Sawyer has no problem verbalizing it," Charlie said. "Jack thought it was perfectly dandy and all right to leave us in that hatch to rot, because the many is more important than the few, right? Well, excellent morals, Jack, really."

"Charlie," Kate said again, "you're not being fair. He was doing the right thing. Those _were _good morals."

"I wasn't finished," Charlie said hotly. "Okay, Dr. Jack, if you have such excellent morals, it's fairly certain you wouldn't even _consider _killing someone, let alone an entire camp of people. Am I right?"

Jack looked uncomfortable. Everyone else seemed to take into account what he was saying, too, but didn't necessarily support it.

"Well, that's what I thought," he said. "So while I fell in love with this beautiful, amazing girl with a heart bigger than any of your cold and empty ones, a girl who could never bring herself to kill someone, I never feared for her life. I feared for _our _lives, my friends' lives, because we were up against the Others. But I never thought we'd sink to their level."

"We're not sinking to their level!" someone shouted. "They're evil! They torture, they taunt, they kill… they lurk in the jungle and kidnap us!"

"Hm," Charlie said. He was nodding, but with a dripping look of sarcasm and hatred. Adie listened to him faintly, but she had sunk to the ground and was mostly focused on the migraine she was developing.

"Torture," Charlie said, as if he were checking off a checklist. "Well, we've _certainly _done that—not just to the lovely Mr. Gale Imposter, but also to ourselves, unless I'm wrong. That's right, isn't it, Sawyer?"

Sawyer glanced down at his fingernails, remembering the pain.

"Taunting, too," Charlie said. "Don't think I didn't catch you lot glowering and smirking at your prey before you shot them down."

Still everyone was silent.

"Killing pretty much speaks for itself," Charlie said, motioning to the bleeding and dead bodies around him, "and I believe we've kidnapped Mr. Gale and would still kidnap them in the future if necessary."

"You can't turn this around on yourself or us," Jack finally said. "We were just getting the courage to fight back. We've needed to for so long. After everything they've done to us, it was the least we could do."

Charlie shook his head. "Don't try to make yourself feel better, Jack," he said. "You're no hero. You're a murderer." And, helping Adie up, he turned to leave.

* * *

"What're you going to do now?" Adie asked quietly. She had led him into one of the thatch huts, not bothering to explain that they had much nicer houses elsewhere. "I mean, I guess we could move into the main houses, but that would just feel so wrong, after everything…" 

Charlie beamed. "So you're forgiving me?"

She gave him a dark look. "You think I'm going to forgive any of you? I can hardly look at you, and I _loved _you. But you're responsible for my staying alive, so I'll return the favor and make things even."

He ignored the sting of her comment. "I don't think we should, either," he said instead. "But if we go back with them, Jack and the others will just keep on trying to captivate you, or maybe even torture, or…"

"Kill?" she finished for him. "I figured as much."

"Yeah," he said after a second. "But we've got Kate and Sawyer on our side, as soon as we can convince them to speak up. And I'm sure they'll work something out with Jack—I think he's partially in love with Kate, or maybe that was last week…"

She had to remind herself not to laugh, but she was glad for the opportunity. She loved how serious Charlie could be while still being able to make her laugh and have a good time. But as soon as she thought it, she shook it out of her head. The last time she admitted her love for him, he ended up breaking free, shooting her best friend, and then coming back to her camp followed by a mob who wiped out her entire family.

"You should just go," she said, kicking her foot tiredly against her hard wooden chair absentmindedly. "I'll be fine. I can hide from them."

"Are there any who survived?" Charlie asked. "Besides Alex?"

She nodded. "There are, but not many. I know the men would've told some of the women and children to stay back in our real community on the other—"

"What?" he asked.

She shrugged, not really caring. "The other island," she said. "I saw one of our boats pull up before the gunshots even started—they came with all the men and some of the women. But they wouldn't take everyone from the village. I can take one of the boats across—I don't think any of your people saw them yet. But don't you dare tell _anyone_, because if your people find out, I have a feeling they'll shoot the women and children down, too."

"Do you know how to drive a boat?" he asked.

She didn't respond.

"I'm coming with you," he said immediately. "I'm sure together we could figure it out… and I swear I won't touch your remaining family if they don't touch me, nor will I tell any of my 'friends'"—he used air quotes on 'friends'—"about the other island."

"You can't come," she said simply. "I'd be exiled from them. They'd hate me."

"Then maybe you need a new family," he said softly.

"They haven't betrayed me yet," she reminded him.

"On the contrary, I seem to recall Peter putting a gun to your head and plenty of your friends trying to kill me. I know I killed your best friend, but you already admitted you loved me. That means they were going to kill someone you loved."

"It was justified," she said, "since they didn't know, anyway."

He rolled his eyes. "Sure. Murdering me. Justified."

She nodded. "I'd support it." But there was a hint of humor to her cold statement that made it twisted instead of cruel. Not funny or forgiving, but twisted was better than cruel.

But before they could lay out any plans, Sawyer and Kate entered the building, looking reluctant but expectant.

**-The Way Back to the Beach-**

"Are you bloody kidding me?" Charlie demanded. "I'm one of you! You people are freaking insane!" He was so furious, however, that his actual word wasn't 'freaking.'

"Jack," Kate agreed, "this is below low. This is _crazy._"

Sawyer nodded in agreement. "Honestly, Doc, everything you're doing's just proving the Brit right."

Kate and Sawyer had apologetically brought Charlie and Adie back to the original spot. Charlie wasn't about to hurt them, but he definitely wasn't quiet about it. Adie just quietly followed, too wiped out to object. Once they were at the camp, someone suggested tying Adie up. She was immediately tied up, and when Charlie punched the tier in the face, he was also tied up.

"Just because I disagreed with you," Charlie said, "doesn't give you the right to _tie me up_!"

"Don't be dramatic," Jack said. "Look, Charlie, you have no idea how sorry I am, but you're not tied up. We just put your hands behind your back so you wouldn't punch anyone else. We can't let Adie leave, you know that."

Ana Lucia, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up. "It's your own fault, Charlie. You fell in love with one of _them. _What'd you expect, applause?"

"Well, considering you didn't do squat to free us and Adie gave us guns and an open door, I think it did a lot better than anything you did."

Ana Lucia shot him a glare and walked a little off course with Jack.

"I know this is extreme," Jack sighed, "but I didn't know what else to do. If we let Charlie get his hands back, he'll take Adie."

"Trust me, I'm not contradicting you," Ana said. "I'm just wondering if you know what the outcome will be, because some of the people are getting nervous."

He shrugged. "I don't really know. People are saying we should kill her—it's obvious that she still supports them; Kate said she wanted to go back to them, wherever the rest of them are."

"What do you think?" Ana asked.

"I think," Jack said, "if she tries anything, we should. But otherwise, we should take her back to the hatch. Once we let Charlie go, though, there's no telling what he'll do. He really loves her. People are starting to say he's an Other."

"So what," Ana asked with a snort, "you're saying they'd kill Charlie?"

Jack glanced at her unsurely. "I'm saying they'll go pretty far to have the Others dead."

* * *

Kate and Sawyer had veered off to Charlie and Adie, who were sitting in two wooden benches brought out of one of the huts. Charlie's hands were tied to his back, and Adie's hands and legs were bound. 

"Can you bloody believe this insanity?" Charlie demanded. "It's a sodding dictatorship! It's fascism at its greatest!"

Adie said, quietly, "They think they're doing the right thing, just like we did. You thought we were evil, but you're doing the same things."

"I know," Charlie said, nodding. "I'm on your side, Adie. At this point, I'm on your side even if it's with _them._"

"Don't let Doc catch you hearing that," Sawyer muttered. "Or his faithful cop-friend."

They glanced at Jack and Ana Lucia about ten yards away, and realized that they were obviously talking about them.

"I'm sure we can talk reason into them," Kate sighed. "I'll go see if I can convince Jack to let you guys go."

Sawyer felt his temple pulse. He knew he had Kate, and he was glad, but just because he tried to act calm about everything didn't mean he was. He didn't like the idea of her convincing Jack of anything, or being around him, for that matter. It wasn't just jealousy any more; it was _reason. _

"Don't bother," Adie muttered. "He'll take me back to your hatch and tie me up. I don't want to leave here—I want to go back to whoever's still alive." Tears were still streaming down her cheeks, and her entire body was shaking, rocking back and forth while shivering, but her quiet voice seemed calm.

"Let me just see what I can do," Kate said sympathetically, and she walked over to Jack and Ana, sending dirty looks to everyone pointing at Charlie and Adie.

"Jack," she said, heaving a sigh. "What do you think you're doing?"

"He's trying to save us," Ana said defensively, "and he's right."

"I think," Kate said coldly, "that I asked _him. _And besides, do you really think Adie would hurt us? She's not armed, and she's not dangerous. And it's obvious that she loves Charlie."

"It's also obvious that she loves her family," Jack replied simply. "Kate, you're not going to convince me."

"So why should I have to?" she demanded. She'd gone from appalled to outraged, and even more outraged that she'd ever managed to have feelings for someone like him. He was being not just stubborn, insensitive, or harsh, but cruel, arrogant, and deviant. "Why should I have to convince any of you? What makes you worthy of decision-making, but not me or Sawyer, or even Charlie and Adie, for that matter?"

"I'd say the people," Ana sneered. "You think they want a convict, a con-man, a junkie, or an Other as their leader? No, they want a doctor."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You people are sick," she muttered, and left, leaving all her feelings for Jack behind.

* * *

Everyone was still in the Others' camp, because Jack hadn't given the instructions to leave. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do with Adie and Charlie, and even though Ana was encouraging him, he had definitely been disappointed by Kate's argument. He still, of course, thought about their kiss constantly. She wasn't anything close to his dream girl, but she was still the girl he'd felt attraction to for a long time. 

Ana wasn't his dream girl either, but he was starting to realize how right for each other they really were. He was a leader, and Ana could definitely take charge. He helped the innocent with his surgery, and she with her punishing of the guilty. They were a close match, almost too close, and they got along perfectly because of it.

Still, he couldn't manage to get all the secrets out of his head. She'd known Sarah, she'd known Christian, and she'd freed Henry? Not only were those all surprising, but they were things she shouldn't have kept from him _ever_, even before they took their relationship to another level.

But as Sawyer strode up to them, looking calm and confident and infuriating Jack just by being there, Jack got the feeling that Ana was keeping even more secrets. She glanced almost pleadingly at Sawyer, while looking pissed off at him, and said to Jack, "I'll be right back."

Jack shrugged and went to talk to some of the other survivors, but he couldn't help but notice that their conversation didn't look like it was going well. Ana looked furious and desperate, and Sawyer looked reluctant but empowered.

"C'mon, be serious," Ana was saying, out of hearing distance from everyone else. "You wouldn't really tell him. He'd tell Kate, and I'm sure you don't want _that _on your plate."

"Actually," he said, "I've been meaning to tell her that for quite some time," he said. "I just can't do any more than look at Freckles before remembering that I'm keeping a secret from her, and that's not sittin' too well with me." He didn't sound completely honest that he wanted to tell her, but he did sound honest when he said he wanted her to know.

Ana, however, wasn't buying the latter. "You, sensitive?" she snorted.

"Believe it or not, but that really ain't the point here, is it?" he asked with a grin. "If you don't let our little friends go, I'm gonna tell your doc-boyfriend exactly what happened just before you tried to kill—and then freed—our friend Mr. Gale."

"He was an imposter," she reminded him, "and I still don't believe you'd do it."

"Okay," he said with a shrug, and started to walk away toward Jack.

She grabbed his arm. "Wait."

He smirked at her. "Atta girl."

* * *

"Jack," Ana said, "I think Sawyer and Kate are right. Maybe you should let Charlie and Adie go." 

Jack stared at her in disbelief. He'd figured something weird had happened in their conversation, but this? "You were just perfectly okay with this!" he said.

"I know," she said, "but… he told me that people are starting to side with Charlie and Adie, and that unless you want them to stop trusting you, you should let them go. They're not going to hurt any of us, you know. I was just saying that."

"I know they're not," Jack said, "but that's not the point, and you know that. We can't let her go, because it'll show that we're being defeated, at least on some level. We can't let our sensitivity get in the way—that's what always saved them before."

"Do you really want to risk being their leader?" Ana asked. "Because if you keep them tied up, or if you do something worse, they're going to do their best to impeach you."

Jack didn't believe her for a second. Almost everyone was supporting him. Sayid probably wouldn't, but he had left to find Alex. Hurley and Libby hadn't come to fight. They were the only ones who had ever deeply befriended Charlie; no one else knew him well enough to know that he didn't have the capacity to do bad, let alone the will.

"What's the real reason you're saying this?" he asked her.

She sighed. "To help you," she said. "I told you."

He still didn't look like he believed her, but he looked tired of arguing. "Okay," he said. "If this is what you really want, so badly, then we can take her back to the beach and see where things go. But is that really what you want, or did Sawyer do something?"

She gave him a forced, tight smile. "That's really what I want," she said, trying to sound encouraging. He gave her a disappointed but surrendering glance and left to tell the others.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: I know that was a lot of words where not a whole lot actually happened, but for some reason I just started writing really long paragraphs… anyway, hope it wasn't too long, and hope you liked it! Sorry if you think these things were out of character or unrealistic, but I could see it happening on the show. At least, I'd believe it if it did happen on the show._

_Review responses... we'll get to them. Hopefully. But we love reviews, as usual, so don't stop!_

-kissbangx3


	23. Speak

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Speak-

_by CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: I don't have much to say, but enjoy the chapter!_

**-LOST-**

**-The Others' Camp-**

"They should at least bury them."

Adie was staring at the dead bodies of her family scattered around the camp. Every time she saw a face she knew, a memory sprung up in her mind and she sobbed inside. She felt like she had ran out of tears.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"The bodies…they need to be buried."

Charlie shook his head. "Somehow, I doubt they'll do that."

"Charlie, come on."

Charlie looked up to see Jack approaching him. He bit his lip and stood up. Jack glared down at Adie and led Charlie a few yards away. He untied his arms and tossed the rope aside.

"You're free. Happy now?'

"Who got you to do that?" Charlie replied snappishly. "Are you going to let Adie go, too?"

"No," was Jack's reply. Before Charlie could protest, Jack spoke over him. "She's going to come back to the beach with us, and she's going to stay tied up until we find out what to do with her. If you try anything…if you try to run off with her, I promise you someone will kill her."

It wasn't exactly what he had agreed to with Ana, but he didn't mind adding in his own rules.

Charlie saw the seriousness in Jack's eyes and didn't question it. For now, Adie wasn't going anywhere near her family, but at least they would be together.

* * *

"Charlie, your hands are untied…"

Charlie nodded slightly, but he had that look of dread on his face that made her shrink back away from him the best she could. "Charlie? What's going on?"

"I have to take you back to the beach camp, Adie." He stooped down so he was at her level and began untying the bonds around her ankles.

Adie's eyes widened. "No! I'm going back to the other island!"

"Don't you get it? They're not about to let you go _anywhere. _I have no say in this." He untied the last knot and received a kick in the face instantly after her feet were free.

He jumped back with a slight scream. Adie jumped to her feet and he scurried to his and grabbed her as she tried to struggle free.

"I'm going there with or without you, Charlie!" she screamed at him.

"Stop, Adie!" Charlie yelled. "The less trouble you cause everyone, the more likely it'll be they'll begin to trust you and not hurt you!"

Adie stopped, exasperated. "Less than an hour ago you said you were on my side!"

"Adie, I can't be without you. I'd rather listen to them than help you leave, because then we can be together. You just need to cooperate so they start to think better of you."

She gave up the struggling wearily. "If you loved me, you'd let me go."

"No, actually. That would mean I don't love you. Because if you go, they'll kill you. I know that for a fact."

"What's going on?"

Kate walked up, followed by Sawyer.

"Jack untied you," Kate observed.

"Yeah," Charlie said. "I'm not really sure why."

"I had a little talk with Ana Lu," Sawyer said, speaking up.

Kate stiffened. She didn't turn to Sawyer, but just listened – trying to act uninterested.

"I got her to tell Jack to let him go," Sawyer explained, nodding toward Charlie. He decided not to mention that he had actually wanted Adie to be untied as well. He was just going to have to talk to Ana about that later.

Jack and Ana approached them. Ana looked slightly frightened at the sight of Adie not untied. She shot a nervous glance at Sawyer and then turned to Jack, saying something quickly to him. He just looked her dead in the eye, shook his head, and walked up to Charlie and Adie.

"Charlie, we're all heading back to the beach. You're going to hold onto her at all times. When we get there, you'll tie her up again and we'll decide what to do from there…and you know what happens if you try anything."

Charlie glared at Jack. It was the only thing he really could do at this point. He looked at Adie apologetically and hesitantly took her arm in his hand. Gently, but firmly. She looked into his eyes – her own eyes were deep, sad, and angry.

And he didn't blame her.

* * *

"Give me a minute," Sawyer whispered in Kate's ear before stepping back next to Ana.

Kate inhaled sharply once Sawyer left her side to walk with Ana. She bowed her head slightly and walked forward. Ahead of her, Jack was walking near Charlie and Adie.

"Why the hell isn't Adie untied?" Sawyer said sharply to Ana.

"I don't know," Ana admitted. "I told Jack _exactly _what to do and he didn't…I asked him about it, but he just…wouldn't listen." She looked at Sawyer pleadingly, trying to explain to him without words that it was beyond her control. She didn't want to seem so weak.

And Sawyer actually felt sorry for her. He bit his lip and nodded. "I'm letting this go. I'm not gonna say a word, just because I know how Doc is."

Ana looked at him thankfully and he stepped back up next to Kate, taking a few large strides to catch up with her.

"What was that all about?" Kate asked quietly, her voice low.

"Nothing," he answered.

Kate's face fell and she didn't meet his eyes.

"What?" Sawyer asked, concerned.

"Nothing," she said in the same tone he had been using.

* * *

Charlie's arm had drifted down from having a grip on Adie's upper-arm to slinging it loosely around her shoulders, hugging her against him gently as they walked. However, she didn't appreciate it much.

He noticed this, and made an effort to whisper in her ear once in awhile that he 'loved her to death' and manage a smile. But she never responded.

"Adie," he muttered under his breath so no one around them could hear. He waited for her to show _some _kind of sign she was listening, but she did nothing. "Please…please, please, _please _show me some sign that we'll be ok in the end."

Nothing.

"Let me know that you love me, too."

"I don't _lie," _she said harshly, emphasizing 'lie' and letting him dwell on it. He let go of her briefly and grabbed her upper-arm again, staring straight ahead as he walked. She regretted it almost immediately. She knew she cared about him deeply, and had loved him at one time. Maybe she did now. She couldn't tell…but it definitely felt like she didn't and couldn't.

**-The Beach Camp-**

Charlie led her over to where his tent was and had her sit down against a post that was placed inside of the tent to hold it up. He then tied her hands up behind her to the post.

"Isn't this a little harsh?" Hurley questioned, standing at the 'door' of Charlie's tent and watching. "I mean…what's she gonna do?"

Charlie shook his head slightly, not answering Hurley's question. "Doctor's orders," he said a little bitterly, raising his eyebrows.

Hurley laughed slightly and shrugged, leaving to find Libby.

Charlie sat down next to Adie and sat there in silence for a moment.

"You need anything?" he finally asked. "Water, food…?'

She shook her head.

"So, now you're not going to talk to me?"

No answer.

He sighed and touched her knee lightly. "Adie. I don't want to fight about this. I just want things to work out, and I want us both to be happy."

She flicked a strand of hair out of her eyes with a twitch of her head and looked at him for a few seconds before looking back away.

He was near furious now. He stood up, looked down at her for a moment and left the tent.

"Charlie, what's wrong?" Kate asked when she saw him come out of the tent. It was an obvious answer, but she was still concerned.

He shook his head and continued on down the beach.

Kate sighed and looked up at Sawyer. "This all has to stop."

Sawyer shrugged slightly. "He's got girl problems, Katie."

Kate smiled up at him slightly. "I'm sure you're glad you don't." Her smile faltered slightly as she thought about him talking to Ana earlier that day.

When he didn't respond and there was an uncomfortable silence, Kate got worried.

"What?" she asked, concern lining the tone of her voice. "You _don't_, do you?"

"I wish I could say that, Freckles."

She took a step away from him, her eyebrows slightly bent into a furrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked at her in that sad way he was infamous for. It was the look that only happened when he was really, _truly _sorry for something or he pitied someone. Not really someone, though. He really only pitied her.

"Sawyer…"

He grabbed her shoulder gently and ran his arm slowly down the length of her arm. She looked at him, puzzled, waiting for him to talk.

"Kate, you're the only one I want to be with."

"Does that mean you don't have any girl problems?" she asked, slightly hopeful but slightly scared.

"For some reason I think I will after I tell you this."

Kate's stomach flopped and sunk. She tried to stay sane looking, but she was starting to get a knot in her throat and a panicked look in her eye. "What do you want to tell me, Sawyer?"

"I slept with Ana Lucia."

Kate felt like she could end up sick right then and there. She looked directly at Sawyer, the beach around them seemingly spinning so she could only focus on him. She looked away, her hands trembling.

"It was before I knew we would ever end up like we are now. If I had known…if I had known things would turn out this wonderful, it never would have happened," Sawyer said honestly, that same sad look in his eyes and on his face. "You know it wouldn't."

Kate let out a shaky breath and pulled away from him, walking quickly down the beach with her arms crossed over her stomach. She didn't know where she was going, but at least now Charlie wasn't the only one looking like he was about ready to commit a massacre.

And Sawyer's life was just the same as it had always been. He had been walked away from – abandoned, hurt…life on the island wasn't much different after all. And Kate did what she did best, too.

She ran.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Our couples have some serious issues. That's all I can say. And review!_

**Review Responses for Chapter 22 (by kissbangx3):**

**Mystery Island: **Mm, well, there's violence on the show too. Jack, disappointing? I think he's that way on the show too. Well, thanks for the review, keep reading!

**Jimmy-barnes-13: **Yayy, you're so awesome. As promised, the last chapter'll still be yours. Thanks!

_Reviews appreciated!_


	24. Hateful

**Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own**

-Hateful-

_by kissbangx3_

**-The Hatch-**

"It's great, Hurley," Libby reassured her date, gesturing to the blanket and food around them. "Best picnic I've ever been on."

He laughed. "Stop trying to make me feel good. It's _inside._"

She shrugged. "Whatever," she said dismissively. "Isn't it kind of cool that they trusted us with this job, anyway? I mean, typing a number into a computer… what a responsibility."

They both laughed at that, genuinely enjoying the other's company. "It _is _cool," Hurley agreed. "Maybe this means finally Jack isn't the supreme leader and other people get a say."

Libby didn't say anything, because she didn't want to get into another debate with him. She was beginning to feel comfortable around him again, but she didn't want to chance it with starting another disagreement. Still, she did agree with him.

Just as they were starting to eat, someone came bursting into the hatch. They both jumped up to see Ana Lucia walking in.

"Oh," she said when she saw them. "Sorry. Just came to make sure the button was being pushed."

Hurley and Libby exchanged amused glances. "I think," Libby told Ana, "we can handle the responsibility."

Not catching the sarcasm, Ana nodded and said, "Okay. Then I guess I'll—"

But before she could finish, Kate walked in, and everyone went silent. Hurley and Libby just glanced at each other, a little nervous and a little amused, and Kate and Ana stared at each other with a kind of dry dislike.

"You know what?" Hurley said. "I think one of you can handle the button." He gathered their things and left with Libby.

Kate still didn't move. She'd been planning on taking a shower, but somehow she felt like things had to be said.

"So," Kate said carefully, setting down her knapsack.

Ana nodded. "So."

"I talked to Sawyer," Kate tried, glancing meaningfully at her.

"Oh, you mean about our scr—"

"Yeah," Kate interrupted, "about that. Look, I'm not going to hold it against you or anything, but I'm just wondering…"

"How was he?" Ana finished. "Not bad."

Kate rolled her eyes. "No," she said. "I was going to ask why you did it. I mean, was it really just to get the gun?"

Ana didn't say anything for several seconds. Finally she said, completely changing the subject, "So I guess we've switched guys."

"Yeah," Kate said uncomfortably. "So that means you and Jack are… together?"

Ana looked at her calmly and said, "Well, at least he's not a lying, cheating con-man."

**-The Beach-**

Charlie had been sitting in the tent Adie was tied up to for hours, not saying a word. He knew his repeated groveling and apologies weren't enough, and that they were only more tiring after everything she'd been through. So he just sat with her for a while, and then listened to a little music (loud enough for her to enjoy it, too). He considered playing their song, _Waterloo Sunset, _but he knew it might be too much.

Finally he turned his CD player off and set it aside. He tapped the toe of his checkered Vans, glancing carelessly at his torn-up jeans, and finally glanced a little sideways at Adie.

There was no doubt that she was beautiful. Even with streaks of dirt and mud on her face, her green eyes still sparkled in their original, unique way. Her long, tangled brown hair was messy and unwashed, but it gave her a careless air that he couldn't help but admire. She looked sad and worn, but she had stopped the sobbing and the crying. She was staring out of the opening of the tent, watching the waves, with an almost serene expression on her face. He could tell what she was thinking: life had taken so much from her already that there was nothing left for her to lose.

He also sensed memories from her, and before he could stop himself, he found himself pulling out his guitar. Her intense concentration, as if she were trying to achieve absolute nirvana, was unwavering; his actions didn't distract her. But as he started to play, he could see her expressions shifting and her mind wandering.

**-Flashback-**

"Hey, Molly?" Adie asked. "Why don't they let us see any of the other teenagers? Or anyone young, except Alex?"

Molly glanced at her friend sadly. "I don't know, Adie," she said after a second. "I guess they don't want the kids to feel pressured. Or, for all I know, we're the only ones."

Adie looked away. She was only thirteen, but she didn't believe it. She was old enough to question her new family, whether or not she would verbalize that, and she had a feeling they were keeping a lot from her. It had started when they threw away that precious shirt, her father's shirt, and had turned into a web of lies.

Seeing her friend's sad expression, Molly said, "I have something that'll cheer you up."

Adie glanced up instinctively. She was used to Molly, and she knew that what you saw was what you got. Molly was honest and straightforward, the perfect break from all of the lying and deceitful others of her family. As much as she loved them, she knew there were things they didn't trust her with, and it did hurt.

"Guess what I found in Miss Juliet's CD stash?"

Adie frowned. "Who's Juliet?"

"Jules?" Molly prompted. "The lady Ben's always talking about. He says she's really sweet, but I've seen her house, and she's got a great CD collection. Anyway, look at which one I snagged."

Adie didn't want to get her hopes up. She knew it probably wouldn't be her father's band, and that they were the only ones she desperately wanted to hear, but she told herself that she'd thank Molly no matter what.

But Molly held up a small CD with bright orange and yellow flames on the cover. A shadow was standing behind them, a shadow of a survivor, and below the shadow it read THE FLAMES: SURVIVAL GUIDE.

Tears fell from her eyes, which were filled with youth rather than experience at the time, and she took the album in relief and depression. She put it into the stereo and hit play, her fingers shaking as she did so. Tears were blurring her vision, but she had to hear it. She had to hear the song, the first song, the survival song.

And soon it was on. The fun but emotional voice of her father, the amazing guitar work of his friends and him, and the drumming of her godfather. Everyone she missed but couldn't remember. She couldn't picture their faces anymore; they were blurs from a long time ago.

"Molly," Adie whispered through the tears.

Molly reached out and hugged her best friend, a tear running down her own cheek. "I'm so sorry, Adie. I didn't know…"

Adie shook her head, burying her face into Molly's warm cotton jacket. "It was about survival," she said sadly. "Survival, Mol. My dad."

Molly shook her head. "I know. I had no idea—"

Adie shook her head, listening to the song again, trying to block out the tears. "No, don't be sorry," she said, backing away and smiling at her, big red puff marks around her eyes. "Thank you."

**-Present Day, The Beach-**

Charlie was playing it. Or maybe he wasn't, maybe it was the memory… but he was so much like her father, so much like the family she'd longed for her whole life. So much like the promise of a man she'd made to her father. A musician, an intelligent but beautifully amazing person, who truly cared about her.

As he strummed at his guitar, she didn't let her eyes move from the horizon. But she remembered everything—Molly, her father, and everyone and everything she had lost—and didn't know how to cope any more.

**-The Hatch-**

"How dare you?" Kate demanded. "What, just because Sawyer's not some high-class doctor with credits and a resume and initiative to take over an island, he's not good enough?"

Ana shrugged. "Not to me. But that's your prerogative, I guess."

Kate shook her head. "Honestly? I never liked you. But this…" She shook her head. "I can't begin to cope with what he told me, but that doesn't change the fact that Sawyer has a good heart, and just because he's not reliable doesn't mean anything."

"Because reliability," Ana said sarcastically, "is the _only _thing he's lacking in."

"Oh, and you're so reliable?" Kate demanded. "You think Jack is, and that he's this perfect guy? Then what the hell are you doing with him, with a secret like this over his head?"

Ana's expression instantly turned to fear. She'd laid enough on him for one day, at least. It definitely wasn't time to tell him about Sawyer.

But, Ana Lucia realized as Kate got up and stalked off, it was probably a lost cause.

**-The Beach-**

"Adie," Charlie said, finally giving up on his quietness. He couldn't help it—she had lost it again, and he didn't think he'd be able to bear it if she cried again. "Look, whether you bloody hate me or not, you need to open up to someone."

She glanced up at him, finally, but he couldn't bring himself to look back. He didn't think he'd be able to bear seeing her pain, either.

"It's just that song you played," she said quietly. "It reminded me of my dad's music. _Survival Guide, _you know?"

Charlie nodded. "I know. Driveshaft did a cover for it. I'm sorry, I had no idea how sad it made you… I wouldn't have played it…"

She shook her head. "Don't be sorry," she said, having almost a déjà vu from her conversation with Molly so long ago. "I'm glad you did. I think I need to remember him, especially now."

He smiled, finally looking back at her. Once he got through the pain and suffering in her glance, he also saw love and happy memories, and it made him happy for her, a feeling he hadn't felt in weeks.

"The Others… they were bad people," she told him, sitting a little closer next to him but still not touching him. "I know that. I think I knew it along, but I especially knew it when they took you. They thought I was loyal enough to see you and not freak out or help you. They told Molly that Alex couldn't come, that they didn't trust her enough…"

Mentioning Molly also seemed to bring pain to her, but she continued. "I guess I wasn't loyal enough. At least, I was free enough to fall in love with you." Charlie smiled. "But they weren't my family," she said, "and they never were. I don't know any more about them than you do, really, which says for itself that they never really trusted me. I had a family, and they'll never be replaced."

"So you did love me," he said after a second—not at all by means of ignoring her other statements, but because he didn't know them and didn't want to ruin the brilliance of her reminiscence. And because he was dying to know. "Well, I'm glad that much was real."

She rolled her eyes slightly, as if giving up on living a lie. "Please," she said, shaking her head. "I always loved you, Charlie. I wanted you to die a few times, and sometimes I was just bloody _pissed off _at you, but I never stopped loving you."

**-The Beach, Jack's Tent-**

"Hey," Kate said softly.

Jack glanced up, nodded, and glanced back down.

"Is that what we've been reduced to?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows slightly. "Nods and silence?"

He looked frank and tired. "There something you want, Kate?"

"If I knew something that pretty much sucked," she said, "but you deserved to know, even though it would make you pretty unhappy and probably disappointed, should I tattle and tell you or let you find out in your own time?"

He looked at her again, just as frankly. "What is it?"

She blinked at him. "Honestly, answer the question. Because it's not really my business, but we used to be really close, and I would've wanted you to know. I would've thought you had the right to know."

"If you don't want to tell me," he said coldly, "don't tell me. If you do, great."

She sighed. Honestly, it wasn't about his right to know. It was about Ana Lucia ruining her almost perfect relationship with the complicated James Ford, and her wanting revenge. It was immature and pathetic of her, wanting to tell Jack about something Ana did with Sawyer, but it was also an idea that she couldn't let go of.

But really, should she let herself sink to that level?

Then again, she was doing Jack a favor.

"Ana Lucia slept with Sawyer to get a gun, a little over a month ago."

And, well, she wanted the girl to pay.

**-LOST-**

_Sorry this chapter was so short, but hopefully it got everything out. We only have a few chapters left, so wait to see the outcome! We've still got some Skate, Chadie, and possible Jana to worry about!_

_Sorry about the wait, too - I promise to update the next chapter by the end of May. If I don't, leave me angry comments and I'll remember!_


	25. Take a Chance On Me

**Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own**

-Take a Chance on Me-

_By_ _CharliesHoodie_

_A/N: Sooo, I just realized this is my last chapter in this story. Kinda depressing because I've loved writing this so much. So, next chapter is the last chapter but it's going to be an awesome finish._

_Guess it's ok to tell everyone now, but Kiss and I are considering a sequel that'll probably be published sometime next year. Note I said considering. We have no actual plans or idea of where the sequel will go, but with the way this story ends, there's a lot open to explore what could happen afterwards. So, enjoy this second to last chapter!_

**-LOST-**

During the moments after Kate told him that Ana slept with Sawyer and the moment right before he started yelling at Kate, a lot of things went through his head.

For a gun? All right, so it wasn't for pleasure or anything. It was for a purpose…to kill Henry and then not even go through with it and let him go! But it's not like she did it just because she wanted to…but she could've dealt with it in another way! She didn't' have to have sex with him!

"Why would you tell me that, Kate?!" Jack nearly screamed. But he knew he wasn't going to get that great of an answer from her. But it was better than him never knowing at all.

"I just thought you should know," Kate said honestly. And Jack noticed the pain in her eyes, too, and realized how much this hurt her just like it did him.

But Jack wasn't the apologizing type. He was the give-a-sorry-look-and-turn-away type of guy. And that's exactly what he did. He stood with his back facing her, running his hand through his close-cut hair and sighing. Kate was used to this exact scenario. It was nothing new for her.

"I'm sorry," Kate said, wanting to get this over. She actually wanted to talk to Sawyer. It would give her a relief to talk to someone who would directly confront her honestly instead of turn his back to her and ignore her.

Jack said nothing in response.

"I just thought I'd let you know," she said meekly, her voice breaking slightly. As much as she was content with where she was in her relationships (despite the whole Ana and Sawyer scenario) she still couldn't stand Jack being upset at her. It still wasn't new to her, but it was one of those things that stuck with you constantly until it was resolved.

But right now, it looked like _nothing _was going to be resolved.

At least with him.

**-Charlie and Adie's tent-**

"But I never stopped loving you."

The words rung in Charlie's mind as he lay awake in his tent, staring at the tarp ceiling. It was nighttime now, and Adie was asleep, still tied up and sitting up.

All the times he had felt like she would never care about him again, he was wrong. She really _had _cared a lot. And the best thing of all was that she still loved him.

**-The Next Morning, Sawyer's Tent-**

Sawyer hadn't even dared to talk to Kate yesterday.

He had dealt with a lot of women, and he knew that the best thing to do was to give them space. But in this case, he wasn't sure how much space he should give her.

He hesitantly left his tent as he pulled a gray wife-beater over his head. The sun was just rising and the sky was full of purples and pinks and oranges. Sawyer didn't realize it until now, but he had never taken the time to look at a sunrise and see its beauty.

He took a final look at the sky and walked a little ways down the beach. He saw Charlie over at the 'kitchen', filling up water bottles. No one else was really out on the beach this early except for the occasional freak that jogged every morning.

"What're you doing up?" Sawyer asked, feeling like he had nothing better to do than talk to Charlie.

"Getting water," Charlie answered. He was quiet, but not in an upset way. It was more of a distracted way, like something else was taking up three-fourths of his mind and the other fourth was focusing on keeping up with reality.

"…Why this early?"

"I don't know. I couldn't sleep."

"What, are you an insomniac now or something?" Sawyer asked, raising an eyebrow.

Charlie didn't answer at first. "Adie and I are in love," he finally said after awhile in that dazed, little-boy-has-a-crush way. Sawyer couldn't help but roll his eyes and let out a tiny snort.

"Haven't you BEEN in love?"

"Not exactly," Charlie admitted with a slight shrug.

Sawyer was about to give up on keeping up with all the goings-on on the island. He hated to admit it, but he was a little jealous of Charlie. Yes, he was bigger than Charlie, stronger than Charlie and certainly more desirable than Charlie (in his own opinion) but he didn't like the fact that Charlie could have a completely butchered relationship and then fix it all up again and be "in love." Sawyer didn't have that gift, and he was a little ashamed to admit it.

"All right, whatever," was all he said before turning back around and heading toward his tent.

Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Kate ran right into him.

He had been concentrating on nothing in particular and she had been coming out of the woods, looking down at the sand and twirling a lock of her wavy hair around her long fingers. She was obviously deep in her own thoughts and wasn't paying attention when she bumped into Sawyer, who was in a similar state.

The sight of each other caught them off guard. Sawyer muttered something to himself and started walking quickly in the direction he had originally been heading. Kate collected herself and followed him.

"James," she said, emphasizing his true name. "We really need to talk about this."

He stopped. "Maybe you should start by calling me Sawyer."

Kate closed her eyes, her long lashes fluttering. "Sawyer…can we please talk?"

"Yeah," he said gently.

They had a hard time looking at each other as they went off to a secluded part of the beach where a small bay formed, about twenty feet across. They sat on the beach. Kate started.

"Sawyer, I need to know if this means anything to you."

"Of course it does," he answered. "This…you…are the most real thing I've ever felt," he said honestly.

"Then why did you do it?" Kate asked, her voice shifting slightly. "Why would you sleep with her?"

Sawyer considered taking her hand, but decided against it. "Back then…I didn't know…I didn't think I had a chance at all with you. I never thought that…that I could do as good as you. Girls like you aren't with guys like me. That's how it works. I decided that I had some pretty wild dreams to think that 'us' could ever happen."

"I don't see why," Kate said quietly. "I always though that…that we were…" she felt embarrassed to say it. "I always thought that we were kind of perfect for each other."

Sawyer's face visibly lightened up and Kate smiled slightly.

"You really mean that?" he asked warily.

"Yes. I do. So lets try this one more time…how much does this mean to _you?"_

He grabbed her face and kissed her deeply. She returned it. He pulled away.

"Now, look me in the eyes and tell me that didn't tell you exactly how much you mean to me."

**-Charlie and Adie's Tent-**

"Hey, where were you?"

Charlie looked over at her as he came inside his tent, pushing back the loose tent flap. "I was filling up water bottles."

"This early…why?"

A blush rose in his cheeks and he looked down at the sand. "I don't know. You weren't up yet, and I was bored and it was one of those nights where you can't sleep and you have to be doing something…"

He looked up and she was smiling at him. He felt a little more confident.

Charlie sat down next to her and looked down at her thin wrists that were tied together behind her back. He frowned slightly and touched the rough ropes. "I wish they'd let me let you go…"

Adie's smile faltered. "I wish, too."

"If…if I could let you go…I'd let you go...for real. I mean, I'd let you leave and go where you wanted to." It hurt him to say it, but it was true. He felt like he loved her enough to just let her do what she wanted. But he was also felt confident that she loved him enough to say.

But when she didn't respond with something like 'I love you too much to leave, even if I got the chance' he got a little worried, and lost some of that confidence.

In fact, she didn't respond at all.

He bit his lip and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll figure out some way to get you out of this, ok? You don't deserve to be tied up like this. No one does."

**-Flashback, a little more than a week ago-**

"I don't understand why we need that doctor and that James man," Adie said to Peter.

"Jack and James," Peter verified. He had a long coil of thick rope he was cutting into shorter pieces and separating.

"When are we taking them?" Adie asked.

"Soon," was all Peter said. He paused. "You don't seem too happy about it."

Adie shrugged. "Why should I be?"

He stopped what he was doing. "Because it's the right thing, Adie."

Adie was staring at the rope now. "You think that's the right thing? You think tying people up against their will for your own sick purposes is the _right thing_?"

Peter now put down the rope. "Adie, what's wrong?" He had truly never seen her like this. He had an idea that this is how she could turn out, though: rebellious and not believing in what they did.

"Nothing's wrong," she meant it to be sarcastic, but she also didn't want to get in an argument about it so she didn't make it too hateful. She bit her lip and started to leave the room. "You," she said, referring to everyone in general, "don't deserve to be tied up like this," she said, gesturing at the coil of rope. "No one does."

**-Ana's Tent-**

Ana was sitting alone, reading a book that wasn't her officer manual for the first time in her life. She had never been a reader. She hadn't even read assigned books in her English class. Now she was reading Sawyer's '_Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' _out of pure boredom. But, in her opinion, it was actually an OK book.

Jack walked in. She lowered the book so he wouldn't see the cover, but he got a glimpse of it and scowled. "So now you're reading his books, too?"

"Jack," Ana said quietly, feeling weak for one of the first times in her life.

"No, Ana, I don't want to hear your pathetic little story. I came to tell you that this…this _thing _that we have is over."

"Jack!" She stood up, dropping the book to the sand.

"Everything, from the moment I met you, has been one big, huge lie!" he exclaimed. "Everything! Henry, my dad, and now Sawyer? As if my life in general hasn't been hell!"

"You don't know what hell is!" she screamed at him, clutching her fists. "You don't know what it's like to go through all the shit I've been through!"

"I guess we have similar lives, don't we?" Jack snapped, turning to leave.

"We do," Ana said a little more gently. "And that's why we need to be together."

Jack glared at her. "Sorry, Ana," he said sarcastically. "If I already have a shitty life I don't want to add another shitty one to it."

"You're going to be just like your dad!" she screamed at him as he left. "Miserable, alcoholic and twenty kids scattered around the world!"

Jack was already out of her tent, but he could hear her clearly. People were staring at him, and for the first time, he felt heat of shame and embarrassment rise in his cheeks.

Sawyer and Kate were heading back from the little bay, hand and hand. Earlier, they had been laughing and joking. But when they saw Jack and heard Ana, they fell silent.

Kate looked up at Sawyer and raised an eyebrow. Sawyer looked down at her, bit his lip and looked over at Jack who was storming across the beach.

Kate squeezed his hand. This was how she wanted it to work out.

But when you want bad things to happen to people and it happens, regret comes with it.

Even though they deserved it to a point, Kate couldn't help but feel bad. But the truth also had to be out, and now it was.

And now things were generally how they ought to be.

**-Charlie and Adie's Tent-**

Charlie held the rim of the water bottle to Adie's chapped lips and turned it at a slight angle so it would easily run down her throat. She tilted it more her self so more would flow through. Once she had consumed a little more than half of the bottle, Charlie pulled it away and screwed the cap back on.

"Hey," she said a little breathlessly. "I'm still thirsty."

"Sorry," Charlie said, putting the bottle aside. "But I don't want you to drink too much, or you'll get sick or something."

Adie gave him a puzzled look. "You can get sick from drinking too much water?"

"Yeah," he answered. "People drink way too much water here and they literally throw up water sometimes. It's like…over-hydrating or something. I don't know."

Adie was still a little confused, but accepted it. She leaned her head against the wood stake she was tied to and sighed. "This is getting painful."

"I know," Charlie said regretfully. "I'm going to talk to Jack about it today…maybe he's in a better mood."

Adie smirked. "Jack? In a better mood? No…"

Charlie laughed, hardly able to stop himself. Adie giggled too and it got a little harder. Charlie finally stopped, face flushed. He kissed her on her tan, slightly sun burnt forehead. "I love you."

Adie blushed. "Yeah, same to you," she said smiling.

He paused. "Can I kiss you?"

"Why do you have to ask?"

"Because you're…like…tied up and it might be a little awkward if I just start making out with you and you have no consent…I'd feel like I was molesting you or something." He blushed deeply.

Adie smiled. "Go ahead."

He leaned forward and she tilted her head to the side as their lips met. It was probably the most passionate kiss they had ever had with each other, and for Charlie, it was the most passionate kiss he had had with anyone, which was really saying something.

When they broke apart, Adie kept her eyes closed and let her head fall back against the stake. Charlie moved closer to her and ran his hand up and down her thin leg gently.

Adie opened her eyes slightly and smiled at him.

But the thing that troubled her most was that it was almost a fake smile.

And the other thing that troubled her was that she was confused.

**-LOST-**

_A/N: Yes, even though the story is coming to a conclusion, our characters are still pretty screwed up! We'll leave it up to Kiss to tie it all up…IF it gets tied up! We'll just have to see I suppose…_

_I had a joyful time writing this, guys! It certainly was fun! Check out my other stories if you would. See you in another life…story…yeah._

**By the way, sorry about kind of abandoning review responses, but we appreciate them so much! It's kiss's fault that we're not... that's me now. I'm a very bad updater, we should've had this finished months ago... anyway, next chapter is the last one and will have a special dedication... thanks for sticking with us! I'll have it up before June 7th, so soon.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own**

_A/N: Okay, honestly I became an annoyingly unreliable partner and it took me forever to finish this chapter, but I only took so long because I wanted it to be perfect… erm, and because I was really busy. Anyway, thanks for all the support, and I can say I had a lot of fun writing this. We're not sure about a sequel, but keep your eyes open for one in case. Enjoy! - kiss._

_**DEDICATED TO JIMMY-BARNES-13, one of our most loyal readers, and everyone else who's stuck through my (Kiss's) rough updating schedules. Thanks!**_

**-LOST-**

**-The Beach-**

Kate watched the waves roll in and out with a feeling of serenity. Her head was resting on Sawyer's shoulder, and while she would never allow her happiness to revolve completely around a guy, she was definitely letting him help. Still, her perfect mood felt spoiled every time she saw Jack or Ana Lucia. She knew she did it to them, and she couldn't erase her guilt.

"It's not your fault, Freckles," Sawyer said without even looking up from his book, _Catcher in the Rye. _Kate had suggested it, remembering that the narrator was almost as grouchy as he was.

"That right there is why I love you," Kate said, grinning.

He smiled and kissed her cheek before going back to his book. But as he read, he continued talking. "Doc was gonna find out eventually. You did him a favor, telling him. It'd be worse if they were in love and then found out."

"You don't think they were in love already?"

He shrugged. "Nah. I think she's too stubborn and he's too proud."

"So they're pretty good for each other," Kate reminded him with a grin.

He laughed. "Just like us."

**-The Hatch-**

"Jack, how long are you going to leave her down there?"

Jack didn't even look up at Charlie. "I don't know, Charlie. Indefinitely, I guess. We can't let her go, because she knows too much. We've been over this. A _lot._"

"And clearly it hasn't been enough!" Charlie insisted. "Look, I'm this bloody close to letting her go myself and dealing with your insanity later." On 'this,' he made the smallest possible space with his fingers. "So I'll give you one more chance to approve, and then you can kill me, if you have to, but she's gone."

Jack shook his head, his eyes still on whatever he was looking at. "I don't think you really will."

"Really," Charlie said. "And you know all this without even looking at me."

Jack swallowed, catching the sarcasm, and glanced up. When he saw Charlie's expression, he knew he'd been wrong with his assumptions: Charlie was perfectly willing to do it.

"Okay, I'll talk to—"

Jack didn't finish. Charlie gave him a few seconds before finishing for him. "Kate? Ana? Sawyer? My guess—even though I'm not really on the A-list now—is that you've isolated everyone with your leader complex. And while I'm an ex-junkie and therefore couldn't possibly know anything about love, I say you need to let it go and fight for whoever it is you want."

Jack didn't look like he was going to take Charlie's advice on anything. "Okay," he said, "you can let her go. It's not my approval, just my…" He shrugged. "I don't even know."

"Your permission?" Charlie suggested. "Jack, don't you see how ridiculous this is getting? We need a leader like everyone else, but there are limits. And even leaders have lives. My advice? Not that you need it, but it's to go find Ana, forgive her for whatever she did, and lay off the leader thing for a while. Unless you like Kate, but unless you haven't noticed, she's kind of caught in a really tight net…"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Sawyer told you about that?"

Charlie looked confused. "About what?"

Jack almost laughed. "So that's a real term."

Charlie blinked. "Jack, are you…?"

"Okay? I'm fine." He shrugged. "I guess I just need to fight for whoever it is I want. Have fun with Adie." He left.

**-Ana's Tent-**

"Hey." It wasn't much, but it was a start. Jack wasn't sure what else he had.

Ana glanced up and nodded. "Hey."

"So I was talking to Charlie, and he told me to fight for who I want."

"And you listen to ex-pop-star-junkies who get caught on islands every day, or is this just for when you're really egotistical?"

He have a short laugh, accepting the insult. "I have no idea who I want, or even what I want," he said. "But I just want you to know, it's not Kate. That's not why I'm pushing you away."

She didn't look like she was any more of a romantic than he was. "You don't need an explanation, you know," she said airily. "I've done enough."

"So have I."

She held his gaze, dark eyes mirroring dark eyes.

"All I'm saying here," Jack said, "is that I'm willing to be even. I forgive you, you forgive me. Nothing more or less."

She nodded. "Okay."

"For now," he added, with a hint of a smile. Then, before she could pry, he left.

**-Charlie and Adie's Tent-**

"Hey," Charlie greeted tiredly. He didn't know what else to say.

Adie didn't have a smile left to give him.

"Ready to get out of the ropes?"

She glanced up at him, but she hardly even looked hopeful. Her dark eyes seemed darker than ever, her pale skin covered in dirt, her hair tangled and unattended. Even then, she had the trait she'd always had that made her special, that made her beautiful.

"I'm dead serious, believe it or not," he said, offering her a smile. "Jack gave his…" He shrugged. "I don't know. But the point is, I won't get bloody yelled at again."

She turned away from him, glancing outside the tent to the beach and their camp.

"I thought you'd be happy," he said softly.

She turned back to him, letting her eyes meet his. "I don't know where to go from here," she said. "After all this… this _us, _I can't just leave. And after my family, everything they've done, I don't think I can go back to them. But…"

He nodded understandingly. "But they're your family, and they're all that's left."

Her eyes stayed on his.

"My advice?" he asked, smiling as he pulled out a knife. "Stay with me." His joke voice then ended, and he added, "But Adie, I'll understand if you want to go back. If you love your family like I love you, I wouldn't want anything else for you."

A tear fell down her cheek as he cut her ropes away. "How can you expect me to leave when you keep saying things like that?" she asked, trying to conceal a sniffle.

He finished and helped her up. She stumbled a little, but she seemed eager to walk.

She glanced outside again. He waited for her to take off, but she didn't, not right away. She was still looking, glancing, wondering.

**­­-Flashback-**

Adie was supposed to be cutting trees or something she didn't understand, but she'd instead gone back to the hatch and found a pot. Now she was having a pretty fun time banging sticks on it. She felt like a drummer, almost like the funny guy with the afro she remembered from her dad's band. Jim something? She couldn't even remember.

"Adie," shouted Jess, one of the tougher girls. She was in her late thirties, and while she'd never been as great as Peter or Molly, she did look out for Adie on occasion. Like most young and converted Others, Adie had people like Jess. She liked to think it was for her own protection, but sometimes she wondered if it was for theirs.

"Yeah?" Adie asked, stopping the banging.

"What're you doing?" Jess asked, raising her eyebrows in disgust.

"Uh." Adie shrugged. "Drumming?"

Jess didn't reply to that. Instead she said, "There's something going on out front. Ben's orders were to bring you out there."

"Ben," Adie repeated, nodding and trying to hide her sarcasm. She'd never met the guy. She had no idea what it was that made these people follow his every command, but for some reason she was expected to, too.

"Adie," Jess said, "you've gotta cut it out. You newbies always question the rules, but you don't even know them."

_That _surprised Adie. First of all, she was hardly a newbie; she'd lived there over twenty years. Secondly, it wasn't _her _fault she didn't know them. No one told her anything.

But she didn't say that. Instead she said, "Sorry, Jess. Let's go."

**-The Caves-**

"So you have an ex-husband," Hurley said, leaning back on a rock. He tried to sound calm. "Was he a lot to measure up to?"

Libby's eyes were on the horizon outside of the caves. The past few weeks, she'd been perfectly happy, and she liked it that way. She liked it with Hurley, and she could understand his huge amount of questions. She'd tried to explain everything. But the one thing he couldn't seem to get over was that she had an ex-husband.

"Yeah, he was," she said. "But so are you. Don't make me compare."

He shook his head. "I wasn't gonna. But, you know, in case you need extra inspiration… well, if we ever get off this island, you'll be glad to know I'm a multi-millionaire."

She laughed. "I heard. Lotto, right? Charlie told me."

"Charlie," he said, shaking his head. "Charlie doesn't even believe me. I'll show him, right? I'll buy him a Ferrari or a record deal or something."

"And if we don't get off the island?"

"Well, if we don't, we don't," Hurley said. "I think we're doing okay. Maybe even as okay as you and your good ol' ex-husband." He glanced at her hopefully.

"He was great, and you're great," Libby said confidently. "That's all I need to know."

He grinned. "Hey, it washes clothes, that's all I need to know."

She smiled back. "Finally, someone who keeps it simple."

And as they leaned in for a kiss, they both knew the truth was out. Now things could be right for a change.

**-The Hatch-**

The biggest explanation for the blossoming and unpredicted couple was their chemistry, and their absolutely fluent conversational skills.

Well, it certainly wasn't their honesty factor.

But as Jack and Ana sat, waiting for the button to torture them again, they covered all kinds of things: his dad, her mom; his ex-wife, her miscarriage; their leader complexes. She wanted to serve justice, and he wanted to heal.

By the time the button went off, it felt like they knew everything about each other. They even knew things the other didn't know about him- or herself, like Ana detailing her outing with Christian. By the time it went off, they felt more confident. Whether something was going to become of them in the future, neither of them was sure.

But for now, a kiss wouldn't hurt.

**-The Beach-**

"Look," Kate said, pointing to Adie and Charlie across the beach. "She's out. She didn't run off."

Sawyer was honestly glad for Charlie. They'd actually gone through some things together, and from hunky blonde to lovable blonde, they almost understood each other. "How 'bout that," he said, dimples spreading on his cheeks.

"Oh, shut up, you know it makes you happy for him," Kate said, punching him playfully. She had to admit, she didn't mind the constant reminder that he was there, her spending every waking minute with him. In time it might hurt, but it also might bond them further. There _were _a few perks to being stranded on an island. At least she didn't have to work. Or run, for that matter.

"Yeah, maybe a little, since I know how it feels."

She smiled back. "We should help 'em," she decided, getting up. "Show Adie around, or something. Get her to feel the new place."

He frowned. "Freckles, I was all comfortable."

"You'll be even more comfortable tonight if you do this," she offered, grinning.

"Okay, I s'pose I _could _help out," he said, jumping up.

She laughed lightly, standing on her tip-toes for a short but sweet kiss before leading him over to Charlie and Adie.

"Hey," Kate greeted Adie.

"Hey," Adie said quietly.

"Hey," Sawyer offered, but he hadn't expected a reply. Adie would get over it eventually, but he'd really hurt her when he hurt the Others, and he knew that.

"So you're staying?" Kate asked hopefully.

Charlie bit his lip as Adie said, "Thinking about it. I don't know. I mean, they're still there if I change my mind, right?"

"Yeah," Charlie said quickly, before Sawyer could say something regrettable. "Who's to say we can't be friends with them, anyway? It's only the good guys left, right?"

No one said anything.

"Well, you can, at least," he said to Adie.

"Okay, Adie, this is the beach," Kate said, changing the subject. "Over here we have Sayid"—Sayid waved uncertainly—"and then in this tent we have Jin and his pregnant wife, Sun." She opened the curtain carefully, just in case they were doing something private. They weren't; they smiled welcomingly at Adie, who looked shy but glad.

Kate felt strangely uplifted to be able to be this carefree, surrounded by friends and the man she loved. "Okay, then here's Claire and Aaron."

Claire stiffened a little, but relaxed when she saw Adie's gentle smile. Claire always felt protective of Aaron, but she trusted Charlie, and she knew that if he could trust Adie, there had to be something there.

"Hi," Adie greeted quietly.

"Hi," Claire replied just as sincerely.

Kate led her around, introducing her to everyone else, Sawyer and Charlie still following. Sawyer's arm was draped affectionately around Kate's shoulders, but Charlie wanted Adie to know she had space and choice. He walked next to her, cracking jokes and introducing, hoping to be as good to her as he could.

They got to the caves, where Libby greeted Adie warmly and Hurley informed her that she had a pretty cool boyfriend. To Charlie's pleasure, Adie's reply was, "Thanks, I know." They stopped by the hatch and broke up Jack and Ana from a rather heated debate over why parents didn't work as bosses, and then circled back around to show her their food supplies. By the time they were done, Adie felt like she honestly knew the routine.

"You're pretty great, you know," Adie told Kate. "I mean, you're not corrupted, and you're all so… innocent."

"You _do _know she's an ex-con, right?" Sawyer asked, raising his eyebrows. "And that your boyfriend's an ex-junkie and I'm a con-man?"

"_Ex _con-man," Kate corrected.

"Exactly my point," Adie said. "Ex. You're all just good people now. I wish my family—no, the Others—could've been like that. I think that's why I decided to stay."

Charlie literally squealed. "You're staying?" he asked, his smile going from one eye to the other.

"Yeah," she said with a smile, "I think I am."

**-Flashback-**

"Kate Austen and James Ford," Peter said in a hushed voice to Adie. "Both have pretty awful lives, but destined to be together. We've got 'em."

Adie swallowed. "So they're what, hostages?"

"They're not hostages," Peter said, shaking his head and looking disappointed in her. "We're going to use them for the good of mankind, like we always do things for."

_They're hostages, _she wanted to scream, but she didn't. "Who's the third?"

"Charlie Pace. Not much of anything but a sidekick. From some pop band, I don't know."

She didn't think too much of it at the time. "And we've got Jack?"

"Yep," Peter said, "but we don't know if we'll keep him. We can let on of them go. He's their leader, anyway. They need him."

She didn't want to hear any more. She'd heard it all: Hurley and Libby's history, Ana's tragic story and then her betrayal of Goodwin, Sayid's military past, and so much more. She couldn't recognize them like some people, but she understood it for the most part. The thing was, she didn't want to. She had distant memories of her childhood, of a normal life—that was what she wanted.

"So you'll be watching over three of 'em," he said. "Not sure which three. I'll be there too, most of the time."

"Okay," Adie said.

"A," he said, looking at her straight in the eyes. "This is important."

_No, _she wanted to shout, _it isn't. _But she didn't.

She walked outside, keeping herself hidden, and watched as the three hostages were brought in. She could see Kate and Sawyer's connection already, and she could understand Peter's explanation. But the one who caught her attention the most was Charlie. She recognized him. She saw her past in him, her rays of memory that had kept her sane all this time. She saw something amazing.

She saw an opportunity to change.

And over the next few months, she would.

**-LOST-**

_So that's everything! It was fun to write and fun to post, and thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and enjoyed. If we write another story, it'll be on CharliesHoodie's account, and if not, check it for her stories anyway!_

_--kiss & CH_


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